Dark Times
by autumn midnights
Summary: Set during DH. Morag MacDougal has always stayed under the radar and has always avoided getting into trouble. But this year - her last - it seems that will be much more difficult. Death Eaters are running Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Army is going to get themselves killed, and Morag's friends are going crazy. This can't be a normal year, even if she wishes it was.
1. Chapter 1

Mass Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nor will I own Harry Potter in any future chapters, and this is a mass disclaimer for the entire fic so I don't have to put one at the beginning of every chapter.

Author's Note: Shira Lansys's Long Haul Competition, over on the HPFC forum, is what will keep this updates coming every single week.

Anyway, this story focuses on Morag MacDougal. She is indeed a canon character - she was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and is in the same year as Harry and company. That's all that's known about her, which gives me a lot to work with.

In advance, thanks for reading!

* * *

It was late when seventeen-year-old Morag MacDougal woke up. She had an excuse - after all, she had been up late replying to Padma's letter, which had been nearly as long as some of the essays that the students at Hogwarts wrote. It had taken her a long time to write a response - a response which was nearly as long as Padma's original missive - and by the time she had finally fallen into bed, it was nearly three in the morning and she was exhausted.

It was probably close to eleven o'clock - if not noon - now, and she stretched her arms above her head before climbing out of bed. The house was quiet, as it usually was. Morag's parents worked at the Ministry, and they were usually there from eight in the morning until eight at night. Their jobs were more important than anything else, in their minds. They cared for their two daughters, but it was still obvious that work was certainly more important than spending time with their teenagers.

It didn't really bother Morag. She was used to it by now, and since she had spent the past six years at Hogwarts, away from her parents, it's not like they were very close to begin with. It bothered her younger sister, Katrina, much more, but then, most things bothered Katrina.

Shaking that thought out of her head - she'd deal with her sister soon enough, might as well have a few moments of peace - she glanced at her reflection in the mirror quickly before heading to her closet. As always in the morning, her brown hair looked like a bird's nest, and she knew that her sister wouldn't hesitate to point that out. She had taken to getting dressed and combing her hair before going downstairs; Katrina was already abrasive enough without adding comments about appearance to the mix.

She hurriedly slid out of her pyjamas and threw on a pair of robes. The MacDougals were not pureblood fanatics like the Malfoys, by any means, but their bloodline went back enough generations to where magical things were generally more accepted than Muggle ones. They were very neutral in almost everything - they didn't argue for or against Voldemort, nor did they argue for or against Dumbledore or Fudge or Harry Potter or whoever the current person of interest was. They kept their heads down and went along with their business, and they didn't get into trouble.

It was a philosophy that Morag had also implemented at school. Although she had hated Dolores Umbridge with a passion - the woman looked like a toad forced into a pink dress, as she had once told Padma - she hadn't made this common knowledge. As a result, she had been one of the students to never experience detention with Umbridge; she had never felt the sting of the illegal Blood Quill. It was something that she was secretly proud of, managing to keep her temper under control that whole year, never standing up in the middle of class and calling the professor all the names that she thought in private.

She ran a brush through her hair, looking in the mirror the whole time. She was tall, something that petite Su always was jealous over. She wasn't classically beautiful, like Lavender in their year, but, at least, she thought, smiling slightly, she wasn't always scowling like Katrina. Morag tossed the brush back on her end table, grabbed her wand, and headed down the stairs, bracing herself for the inevitable confrontation with her sister.

Katrina was seated at the dining room table, looking rather bored. Most of the reason for her bad behavior, Morag knew, was her lack of magic. Katrina was a Squib, and she was bitter about it. She resented Morag for having the ability to do magic, for going off to Hogwarts year after year while she was stuck going to the local Muggle school, which she despised. She resented their parents for having the bad luck to have a Squib child and for not being able to do a single thing about it. Her bad mood extended all the time, as far as Morag knew; the only times she could remember Katrina being happy were either when she was very little, before she actually understood what not having magic meant, or, rarely, when she was caught off-guard.

"Hello," Morag said warily, passing by her sister to the counter, where she began fixing up a sandwich. "Did the _Prophet _come today yet?"

"Of course," the younger MacDougal girl said condescendingly. "It's nearly twelve o'clock. It came over three hours ago - while you were still laying in bed."

"For your information, I was up until three in the morning." Morag sat down at the table, biting into her lunch. "I was writing to my friend." She was tempted to add something along the lines of '_Not that you'd know anything about that, seeing as you don't have friends', _but decided against it. That was a low blow, and the low blows only occurred in real arguments. This was just normal Katrina-Morag interaction. "So was there anything important in the newspaper?"

"And what do you mean by important?"

"Out of the ordinary," Morag sighed. She knew her sister realized what she meant; Katrina was just being difficult. "As in, anything other than constant deaths and disappearances, and the Ministry trying to convince everybody that everything is okay."

"That's the extent of it," Katrina replied. "I already looked at it. While you were -"

"Sleeping, I know." She rolled her eyes. "Anybody we know?"

"No." Morag wasn't even sure if Katrina would answer that correctly - after all, Morag knew many more people than Katrina. For now, she decided to trust her sister's answer, as she didn't particularly feel like looking through the newspaper. Pius Thicknesse's face stared out from the front page as he mentioned Harry Potter's Undesirable status, and she glanced away. The Death Eaters had just recently taken over, and few people had really been in a position to oppose them. The war was over to most people.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley today," Morag said next after a brief pause, finishing her lunch. "I need to get my school supplies." She didn't bother asking if Katrina wanted to come. First of all, there was no way she'd want to, not to mention that it wasn't really safe for a Squib to be wandering around in broad daylight. Not many people knew that the MacDougals had a Squib daughter, and it was unlikely that anybody would recognize her face, but it would be too suspicious when a thirteen-year-old didn't buy any Hogwarts supplies, and people would ask questions.

They couldn't afford questions.

"Whatever." Katrina rolled her eyes. "Who's even running the school now? The old bloke died."

"Professor Dumbledore was murdered," Morag corrected, her eyes flashing. "Our bastard of a Potions teacher killed him. Now, I have no idea who's going to be Headmaster." She glanced at the front page again. "I don't think it's going to be that good, though. The Ministry's already fallen - Hogwarts would be next." Nervousness ripped through her at the thought. Umbridge had been bad enough, but at least she was no Death Eater. Now...she couldn't even imagine who would be appointed to the position of Headmaster. It would be fair for Professor McGonagall to get it, but she wasn't sure if the Transfiguration teacher even would. After all, if the Ministry couldn't resist the Death Eaters, could Hogwarts?

"Have fun with that," Katrina said, picking up the newspaper and tucking it under her arm. "I'm going up to my room."

"And I'm going to Diagon Alley." Morag left the dining room as well, although while Katrina headed upstairs to her bedroom, the older girl went into the living room, looking at the large fireplace that was in front of her. She took out her wand, muttering, "Incendio" in order to get the flames to rear up. They did, and she tucked it away again, grabbing a handful of Floo powder and throwing it into the fire. It promptly turned emerald green, and she jumped in, calling, "The Leaky Cauldron!" right before they whisked her away.

She tumbled out at the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, landing in an ungraceful heap. One of the people sitting at a nearby table looked disdainfully at her, before sniffing and turning away, but most people ignored her. Good. She stood up, brushing soot off herself before deciding that a cleaning charm would work better. It did, and, not for the first time, she was happy at the ability to do magic outside of school. It was good to be seventeen. She weaved her way through the people there and found her way to the back, where she tapped her wand on the bricks, opening the entrance to Diagon Alley.

It was rather empty. Some of the stores, like Ollivander's and Florean Fortescue's, were closed, but the ones she needed remained open, although the atmosphere was still subdued. Less people were there, and the ones that were hurried by, clutching their children tightly to them and not making eye contact with anybody. She did the same; although she doubted anybody would actually do anything to her, it didn't hurt to be cautious. She bought her books and supplies quickly after stopping at Gringotts, not lingering as she usually did.

This was the first time she had ever come alone. Even with her parents being busy as they were, they would still have time to take Morag to Diagon Alley. Usually, they dragged Katrina along simply so that she wasn't home alone even more than she usually was, and it was one of the few family outings they had. Most of it was because Morag had been underage, and they certainly weren't about to make their underage daughter go shopping by herself. _After all, _Morag had thought snarkily at the time, _it might ruin their precious reputation._

Now, though, she was seventeen. She was technically an adult in the Wizarding world, which meant that she could do what she wanted. She could take money from Gringotts without anybody eyeing her strangely, and as she passed through the Leaky Cauldron she quickly ordered a small drink just for the hell of it. She gulped it down - Merlin knew she needed it if she was going to be home with Katrina all day - and used the fireplace again, this time to return back to her house.

Morag went up to her room as soon as she arrived. Now that she had her things, she might as well pack. She hadn't done it at all yet, and school was barely two weeks away. As carefully as possible she dumped her things into her large trunk before adding her uniforms and clothes, looking around her room several times to make sure she didn't miss anything. Satisfied with the results, she locked it with a flick of her wand and set it upright. She was ready for September first.

That didn't mean she was ready for the Hogwarts year. She was still apprehensive about what it was going to be like, and she flopped back on her bed, attempting to reassure herself that it would be fine, dull, with nothing out of the ordinary.

She couldn't convince herself.

* * *

**My next multi-chapter...and my first Trio Era one! This is exciting, haha. Morag's one of my favorite minor characters, and I've always wondered, after writing my most recent story with her, what her seventh year would be like. Which is how this story was born. Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

For Morag, September first was something to look forward to. She was one of the students that enjoyed being at Hogwarts more than being at home; there were few enjoyable things about the summers, and although she kept in touch with her friends, it still wasn't the same. There was always a couple of days' travel time between each letter, and Padma was the only person she wrote regularly. Su wasn't one for writing letters - she tried, but they were always very brief. Lisa was very busy, with her six siblings, and Mandy didn't open up very much, especially in writing where it could be spread around.

As a result, it was a huge relief for her to leave. Her parents had left long before Morag even awoke, although they had the decency to leave a short note on the kitchen table for her. It didn't say much, simply '_We hope you have a good school year. Remember to study hard for your NEWTs. Love, Mum and Dad'_ but at least it was something. Katrina barely paid any attention when Morag said, "I'm leaving," instead simply shrugging and grabbing a piece of fruit to take into her room.

Shaking her head, Morag grabbed her trunk and Disapparated. There was a small alley only a couple blocks away from King's Cross that was perfect for Apparating into. Her parents had used it for the past several years, back when they actually did have to take underage Morag, and this was the first time she had been going alone. She dragged her trunk out, barely managing to lift it off the ground as she hurried to King's Cross. Not very many people looked oddly at her; she had thrown on Muggle clothing this one time to blend in, and she looked old enough to be traveling on her own.

She hurried through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, glancing around at the crowds of students boarding the train, along with their families giving them last-minute instructions to behave themselves, study, and send letters. Although there was still a large amount, it certainly seemed as though there were less this year. She wondered why - perhaps the situation with You-Know-Who had scared some people off of attending. She assumed that was the only reason for it, as she hadn't gotten a chance to look at the _Prophet _since the day of her trip to Diagon Alley, which was her only source of news. Katrina had taken to getting rid of it before Morag woke up for no reason at all.

Putting that to the back of her mind, she hopped onto the train, dragging her trunk with her. She flicked her wand at it, causing it to levitate and bob along right beside her and making her job much easier. Morag headed through the compartments, looking around until finally, she found the one that she wanted. Padma and Mandy were already seated in it, and she heaved her trunk into the overhead compartment before sitting down next to Padma. "Where's Lisa?" she asked. "She's usually early - is she with Su?" Su, unlike Lisa, had a habit of getting on the train at the last possible second.

"You didn't hear?" Padma furrowed her dark brow. "Muggle-borns are no longer allowed to come to Hogwarts. Lisa's fled the country."

Morag's mouth gaped open. "You're kidding. Muggle-borns can't even come here anymore?" She swore loudly, startling Mandy, who had her nose in a textbook. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"I know." Padma sighed. "It's incredibly stupid. Of course, nobody actually dares say that to anyone of importance - I think someone could get thrown in Azkaban if they were caught openly protesting the new rules."

"Seriously." Morag leaned her head back. "The Muggle-born thing...Merlin. They deserve to be here. Look at Hermione Granger, she was top of the class since first year. Lisa, Dean...oh, Merlin, that means Stephen Cornfoot's gone as well, I guess. So that's why the train station was emptier than usual, I guess, since all the Muggle-borns aren't here...I just can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?" Su Li, the last Ravenclaw girl in their year, poked her head in before strolling into the compartment and plopping down next to Mandy just as the train began moving. "The fact that Pansy Parkinson looks even more like my dog this year than she did last year?"

Despite herself, Morag couldn't help but chuckle. It was true that Pansy was strangely pug-like in appearance, and the Ravenclaw girls had often wondered if she was an Animagus, if it would be a pug. Su always said she didn't have far to go. "No," she said, smiling slightly before her mood reverted back to serious. "The fact that Muggle-borns aren't allowed to attend this year."

"I heard about that," Su sighed. "It's bloody foolish. Not to mention the Muggle Studies teacher is 'missing'." Su made quotes around the word with her fingers. "More like killed. I wouldn't put it past the Death Eaters to murder her just because she teaches that Muggles are people too. Pity. I liked her. And now Lisa's gone, too...they basically forced her to run away, because they're behind this. Our Lisa, the girl who wouldn't even hurt a fly." She glared out the window, staring at the countryside passing by.

"No idea what Hogwarts is going to be like this year," Padma said. "I can't imagine it'll be good. I'm thinking it'll be like fifth year, with Umbridge, except worse. We don't even know who's Headmaster."

"I do," Mandy said quietly. "It was in the _Daily Prophet _this morning. Professor Snape is Headmaster of Hogwarts now."

For a couple seconds, there was a brief, shocked silence as the other three girls digested the information, letting it sink in before they each instantly burst out into protests.

"He's a murderer!"

"How can a Death Eater be Headmaster?"

"I hated him even before he killed Professor Dumbledore!" The last one was Su's, and the others turned to look at her. "What?" she said, shrugging. "He's a bloody idiot, and everybody knows he favors the Slytherins. This year'll be hell - a Death Eater as Headmaster? And we thought Umbridge was a bitch..."

"She was," Mandy and Morag mumbled within seconds of one another.

"You know," Padma said slowly, as though an idea had just come to her, "when Umbridge was around, a bunch of us students formed Dumbledore's Army - I know I mentioned it to you three and Lisa at one point, but you all said that you were much too busy with OWLs and couldn't join. I'd bet you anything that it'll form again this year. If Snape isn't fair, and if he starts acting like Umbridge does...it'll form again."

"Might be riskier this time." Su pulled her black hair back into a ponytail. "After all, this is a Death Eater. As in, the blokes who like to torture and murder for fun. I'm pretty sure whatever he thinks of might be a bit worse than Umbridge's rules."

The four girls fell silent again, and Morag glanced out the window, watching the countryside speed by. What Su was saying made a lot of sense. Morag had already been worried about what this year would be like, and apparently, her suspicions weren't unfounded. The year would end up being like she had imagined: a Death Eater as Headmaster, no doubt implementing many of Umbridge's rules and probably making Umbridge look sweet in comparison. She couldn't picture just what they'd do, where Snape would draw the line, but she could imagine that it would be far. He'd go to extremes.

"I wonder who the new Defense teacher is going to be," Padma said after a brief silence. "Snape's Headmaster, so he won't be able to do it. They'd have to get somebody else again."

"They always do," Su said. "We haven't had the same teacher for more than a year. Of course, it won't matter after this year, we'll all be graduated anyway. Out in the real world."

"Scary thought," Morag muttered. She didn't know exactly what she wanted to do. She was taking all the normal classes - DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Herbology. She had originally taken Divination and Arithmancy as her electives, although she had dropped Arithmancy after OWL year, when she decided it was simply too much work. Divination was pointless, but she kept it anyway - it was an amusing task to make up predictions and what her dreams meant, and often she and Su had come up with wilder and wilder things while Padma looked on, disapproving yet amused.

Occasionally she considered being an Auror. It tempted her, yet it was such a Gryffindor thing to do, not to mention that it went against her and her parents' mindset of not getting in the middle of anything. Now, though, she was sure that such a thing wasn't even possible; she had no desire to be an Auror under the Death Eaters' rule. Perhaps she'd just flee the country like Lisa had, and live somewhere else. America, maybe - at least they spoke English. At least she'd get out of Death Eater central...

Eventually, the topic shifted to a more lighter subject: what everybody did over summer holidays. Both Padma and Su had gone out of the country to visit relatives - Padma and her family to India, while Su and her family headed to China. Even Mandy had done something interesting, for although she had stayed at home, she had actually managed to write a novel over the holidays. Morag was the only one, apparently, who had a boring summer. She usually did, of course. Although the girls had tried to invite one another over, they had found it was quite difficult to coordinate the proper time to do so. As a result they had only visited a few times, certainly not as much as they truly wanted to.

The conversation of summer lasted for a while, and after they were finished with that they became very random, talking about whatever popped into their heads: Quidditch, professors, celebrity gossip, and family. A couple of times, they were interrupted by Slytherins poking their heads in, and after the second time, Su glanced at Padma. "Do you have any idea what that's all about?"

"Prefects," she responded. "I went to the prefects' compartment early, but I was told they didn't need me to patrol the train at all. I think that the Slytherins are completely in charge of patrolling. No wonder - Professor Snape probably doesn't trust anybody else." She rolled her eyes. "I don't even know if there's a Head Boy and Head Girl. I didn't hear anything about it, which is odd."

"You should have gotten it," Morag said.

"If Hermione was here, she would have," Padma corrected.

"She gets into more trouble than you do. Always hanging around with Harry Potter," Su explained. "At least you're not involved in some complex plot all the time, Padma. I think, even if she was here, you'd do better." She shrugged. "Just my guess. And Morag, I think we're almost there. Are you planning on strolling into the Great Hall looking like a Muggle or something? Protesting against Snape?" She grinned devilishly.

"Oops. Forgot." Morag managed to get her robes from her trunk and quickly changed, nearly falling onto her roommates more than once due to the train's movement. Barely minutes after she was done, the train came to a full stop, and as she peeked out the window the castle of Hogwarts could be seen in the distance.

They had arrived.

* * *

**According to Harry Potter Wiki, the article that announced Snape as Headmaster was printed on September 1st, and I'm going with that explanation. I also believe that it would have been announced in the Daily Prophet that Muggle-borns weren't allowed to go to Hogwarts, so that way a crowd of them didn't show up at King's Cross Station on September 1st. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

The four Ravenclaw girls exited the train with all the other students, finding a carriage quickly and getting in. The ride was relatively silent; it seemed as though they had exhausted everything that they wanted to discuss already. Morag couldn't help but notice yet again how strange it felt for there to be only four of them. Since first year it had been Padma, Morag, Su, Lisa, and Mandy, and now Lisa was gone. It was terribly unfair, not allowing Muggle-born students to attend Hogwarts when they had every right to do so...

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of that topic. At least they were back at Hogwarts. She had waited her whole summer for this; she had wanted to come back here more than anything. Now, she was here, and all she was doing was brooding over prejudiced rule changes. _Just one more year, _she reminded herself. _One more year...then I can do whatever I want. _She could leave the country if she truly wanted, she could get a job, and she was definitely moving out of her parents' house...

Morag filed into the Great Hall with the rest of the students. They were all subdued, she noticed; the usual chatter was there, but it was quieter, and there were more whispers and mutters. Many people, specifically those in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, were glaring up at the staff table where Severus Snape sat in the Headmaster's central seat, looking down his large nose at the student body. He didn't seem too happy with them, just as they didn't seem too happy with him, and Morag shot him a glare of her own before turning her attention back to the others.

The four Ravenclaw girls had found seats right across from the other seventh years - Michael, Terry, Anthony, and Kevin. Michael and Kevin were having a rather loud discussion about the sixth and seventh year girls they had seen, and ranking them according to attractiveness. Both Su and Padma looked as though they were about to smack the two boys, Terry and Anthony looked embarrassed, and Morag and Mandy were steadfastly ignoring the conversation. "And then, I saw Parvati Patil," Michael said, "through the compartment - she forgot to lower the blinds while she was changing -"

"That's my sister, you idiot," Padma snapped. "Peeping Tom."

"Prude," Michael retaliated.

Any further argument they could have had was interrupted by Snape rising from his seat. The hall fell down to a silence so absolute Morag could have heard a whisper from the other side of the room, and the students glanced up at him, most with open hatred plastered on their faces. He looked coolly back, before saying, "The Sorting will commence." Professor McGonagall entered, leading a short line of scared eleven-year-olds. The ceremony went quicker than usual, for there were less students. Surprisingly the boys were not complaining about how hungry they were, which had been a tradition for them to do practically every year.

When the last student - "Zeller, Alicia" - had been Sorted into Gryffindor, Snape stood up again. Even Professor McGonagall didn't look too happy with his appointment as Headmaster, Morag noticed, although that didn't surprise her. Everyone knew McGonagall was on Dumbledore's side, and Snape was a Death Eater - quite natural that the two of them would clash.

"As you know, I am now Headmaster of this school," Snape said. "There are two other new additions to the staff as well. Alecto Carrow will be filling the post of Muggle Studies." A squat woman stood up, although very few people actually clapped. She sat back down again, and Snape continued. "Amycus Carrow will be teaching Dark Arts, which has replaced Defense Against the Dark Arts. Both of these courses are mandatory for every student." Amycus Carrow stood up as well; there was very few claps for him, too. He sat down and Snape followed suit; seconds later, the food appeared on the plates.

"Muggle Studies is now mandatory? How the hell is that going to fit into my schedule?" Padma complained, loading her plate with food. "I'm already taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as my electives, plus all the normal classes. And what's up with Dark Arts?"

"Death Eaters," Su said, so quietly that the others had to lean in to hear her. "The Carrows are Death Eaters as well. My mum's mentioned them a few times." Su's mother worked as a secretary in the Auror Department, and as a result Su occasionally got to hear tidbits of cases. "There's no way a Death Eater is going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts properly, so they just changed the course completely."

"It should be fine as long as we don't have to practice Dark Arts on people," Morag mused, glancing up at the staff table again. The Carrows - who she assumed were related, since they greatly resembled one another - were talking to each other; the rest of the teachers were silently eating. "It's only one year," she said, although whether she was reminding the others or herself, she wasn't quite sure.

After the feast, the eight seventh years headed up to the common room, and dragged enough chairs over in one area so they could all sit together in one large group. For a moment it was silent, and then Kevin said, "Well, with these new professors...good thing I bought some Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, hmm?" He glanced at Michael. "I think we'll definitely be using some of them."

"I don't know about that," Terry answered, looking pensive. "If they're Death Eaters, like Su said...perhaps it would be best not to provoke them."

"What are we supposed to do?" Su made a face. "Just behave ourselves all year, with supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named running the school? How the hell is that going to work?" She glanced at each of the others. "If Dumbledore's Army is starting up again...I'm joining it. I don't care if I'm too busy with school and Quidditch and who knows what else. I want to fight back against these idiots."

"Maybe we should wait and see what they do," Anthony said. "That way we don't rush into things. Maybe it won't be so bad."

"So bad?" Su looked incredulously at him. "Dark Arts is on our subject list! These people are bloody Death Eaters, it's going to be bad. And I've got a bad feeling about a Death Eater teaching Muggle Studies, too...I can't picture that being completely normal."

"I still have no idea how I'm going to take all these subjects," Padma mumbled. Morag wasn't thrilled about adding an extra course either, but at least she did technically have time for it, having dropped Arithmancy. Padma, though, was taking a full course-load; when would she even get to Muggle Studies, much less do the extra work?

"Hopefully this year will go by fast," Morag said, looking around at the others.

They dropped off into silence for a few minutes, not sure what to say but unwilling to go to bed so early. It was Anthony who finally said, "Did you notice that Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger are all gone?"

"They'd have to be, wouldn't they?" Michael said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, Hermione's a Muggle-born, and Harry is Undesirable Number One - they can't exactly stroll through the front doors."

"I bet they're together," Padma said, "hiding out somewhere. I mean, where else would Ron be - he's a pureblood, so there's no reason why he wouldn't be able to come. I saw his sister at the Gryffindor table. I think they're off together in hiding, doing who-knows-what."

"Seems like they always are at the thick of everything, doesn't it?" Su said. "In first year, there was the whole thing with Quirrell. Second year, the Chamber of Secrets. Then something with Sirius Black, the next year. Fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament. Fifth year, they fought Death Eaters at the Ministry. And last year, I heard Harry was there when Dumbledore died, and we know that the other two were fighting Death Eaters at the same time."

"What are you saying?" Mandy asked. It was the first time she had spoken since arriving at Hogwarts, and the other seven stared at her for a moment before Su answered.

"I'm saying," she said impatiently, "that I don't think they're just hiding. I think they're doing something. I have no idea what, but it just seems like they're so involved with every single thing that happens. I don't think they'd just go off and hide while everyone else is dealing with the Death Eaters."

"What, you think that they're going to come back at the end of the year and defeat You-Know-Who?" Michael rolled his eyes. "Get real. The war's over. He won. Sure, we may not like it, but there's nothing we can do about it." He glanced expectantly at Morag, hoping for agreement. The two of them often had the same practical mindset to stay out of things; in fact, the only reason that he joined Dumbledore's Army in fifth year was because his current girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, made him.

"It seems like it's over," Morag said in response, "but as long as the three of them are out there, I'm not completely giving up hope."

Padma nodded. "Exactly." She then glanced at Su, saying, "Tomorrow, I'll talk to Ginny and see if the D.A. is being restarted - she'd probably know."

"Count me in," Kevin said. "I've got a bunch of Weasley's products, and I don't want them to go to waste." A rakish grin crept across his face.

Anthony and Terry promptly began whispering to one another, obviously deciding what they were going to do. They had been close since first year - in fact, all of the Ravenclaws were relatively tight-knit, but Anthony and Terry were, by far, the closest. They rarely made big decisions like this without talking to the other; this was a perfect example of them. A few minutes later, they both nodded. "We'll join as well," Terry said.

It seemed as though everyone's eyes were on Michael and Morag, the only two who hadn't committed to joining yet. "Look," Morag said, "I just want to see what these Death Eaters actually do. I'm not committing to anything until I'm positive."

"I'm not either," Michael said, resting his legs on Anthony's chair. "I don't see a point in getting all worked up until we know..." He looked across the common room, and something he saw there caught his eye. "Now, there is a very attractive, lonely-looking sixth year over there, and I think she's looking back at me. See ya." He hurried across the room in pursuit of the sixth year, and Morag rolled her eyes. Typical Michael - leaving in the middle of a serious discussion to chase after a girl.

"I suppose that's that, then," Padma said. Mandy made a small coughing noise, and the Indian girl glanced over. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't think you'd even be interested."

"I am." It was just two little words, but it was just as shocking as if she had climbed upon a table and started singing. Mandy, interested in a rebel student group? Mandy, the quiet girl who was afraid to write letters in case they were spread around? Was this the same girl?

"All right," Padma said slowly. "That's all of us but Michael and Morag, then." She stood up. "I should turn in early. If we have classes with the Death Eaters, I want to be well-rested."

* * *

**All right, so I know that wasn't action-packed, but I really wanted to show the different personalities of the Ravenclaws - they're all going to play a relatively major role in the story, although Morag is the main character. The next chapters should definitely get more into the main part of the story.**

**Just a note: Yes, I do believe that in this year at Hogwarts the D.A. was expanded to include more people than just the ones that had originally joined in OotP. I think there would be people who didn't join then who wanted to join now, especially since Death Eaters are a lot more serious than Umbridge.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Usually on the first official day back at Hogwarts, the students were quite loud. They were usually talking to those people whom they hadn't met on the train or at the beginning-of-year feast; they were often telling tales about their summer vacations and wondering how classes would be, now they had entered a new year. Morag noticed instantly, though, that this year was different. There was still some occasional chatter, especially from younger students who didn't fully understand the gravity of the situation, but on the whole, the room had a subdued air.

It probably had something to do with three of the people at the staff table. Snape sat in the very center seat, reserved for the Head of Hogwarts, just as he had the previous night. On his left were the two Carrows. They kept whispering to one another, then glancing at the students, and although nobody could tell what they were saying, Morag had a funny feeling that it wasn't anything good. All in all, the Carrows and Snape cast a malevolent presence over the Great Hall that seemed to affect everybody.

That didn't stop things from occurring as usual; the schedules were passed out amongst everybody at this time, just as they had been every year. Several students, including Padma, had to go up to the staff table and speak with their Head of House. Morag suspected it was those students who already had two electives and didn't have the time for now-mandatory Muggle Studies, and Padma's bad mood as she sat back down confirmed it.

"I've had to drop Arithmancy," she growled, casting a dark look at the staff table. "I know I won't have time for it this year. Not with Muggle Studies being mandatory, anyway, and Arithmancy is the most difficult course here." She quickly loaded her plate, and began eating along with the others. Glancing up at the staff table again, she muttered something else that Morag didn't catch. Judging by the Indian girl's facial expression, though, it wasn't polite.

Morag was pleased to see that their first day was free of both Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. It was only postponing the inevitable, as she had both classes the following day, but it was nice to see that her return to Hogwarts life would be somewhat normal. Of course, Padma didn't see it that way, as she was still angry over dropping Arithmancy. Personally, Morag couldn't understand what the appeal of that course was, but she knew it was one of Padma's favorite classes. For some unknown reason, of course.

The classes were relatively normal, for the most part. There were notable absences from the Muggle-born students, of course, but none of the teachers said anything outright about it. The most notable absence was in Potions, for the N.E.W.T. class was very small - only four Ravenclaws, four Slytherins, and a Hufflepuff. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger had been in the class as well, but as they were not attending, the already-tiny class was even smaller. Michael, Terry, Padma, and Morag had one table to themselves, as did the Slytherins, and Ernie, the Hufflepuff, was forced to work on his own as there was only room for four at a table.

Although the absence of Muggle-born students was annoying, it was still a normal first day in Morag's mind. She could almost pretend that nothing unusual was going on, and that it was a regular year at Hogwarts. She could almost pretend that everything was the same.

Almost.

* * *

Morag woke up the next morning with the feeling of anticipation; it took a second before she realized why she was anxious about that day. Oh yes, of course - how could she have forgotten, even for a second, that today was the first day in which she'd be dealing with the two new professors? If one could even call them professors, of course - it was highly doubtful that the two Death Eaters had any qualifications to teach.

She got dressed slowly, sighing as she again glanced at the schedule that showed both Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. Dark Arts was before lunch, while Muggle Studies was after, and she vaguely wondered to herself if it was better to have a break in between them, or if it would be easier to get them both out of the way. Of course, she didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, and she stuffed her schedule into her bag, checking and re-checking that she had all the proper books.

When she was satisfied, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed down to breakfast with the others. Kevin and Su were muttering together, and at one point Su patted her bag. As they sat down, Morag leaned over to Su. "Please tell me you aren't making trouble on the second day back." She glanced worriedly at the Carrows.

"I'm not planning to make trouble," Su answered. "It's more of a precautionary measure, in case things get too intense."

"The Gryffindors are going to be there," Morag retorted, "so of course it's going to get intense." She glanced over at the table where those in red and gold were sitting. It was unlikely that they would behave themselves if the Carrows did anything Death Eater-esque; they were much too hotheaded for it, and it was likely that Su would end up intervening with whatever she had planned. Which would probably cause Su to get in trouble as well. "Don't you think you should just wait and see what they do?"

"No." Su's voice was hard, her face set. "I'm sick of waiting."

Su stayed that way for the whole morning, and by the time the Ravenclaws reached Dark Arts, Morag was feeling rather annoyed about Su's brashness. The smart thing to do was to wait and see what the Carrows did when the Gryffindors misbehaved; then they could get an idea of just what they were facing. For Su to intervene somehow was rather pointless, in Morag's opinion.

Morag took a seat near the back of the room, which was rare for her. Usually she was up front, to ensure that nobody's head was in her way, that she could see everything clearly, and that she had a high chance of being called upon to answer a question. This time, though, she didn't really want to draw attention to herself - not until she knew what they were actually capable of. She had never encountered Death Eaters before, apart from Snape, who didn't really act Death Eater-like in class, and she wasn't sure how they would react to things.

Amycus Carrow entered the room after the last students had filed in. He surveyed the class, glancing at the sheet of parchment that must have held the names for attendance purposes. Taking attendance wasn't as quick as usual: he snorted at the name 'Neville Longbottom' for a short while, had trouble pronouncing 'Parvati', and even had a conversation with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle about how their fathers were doing. By the time he was finished with everything, nearly ten minutes of the class time had elapsed.

"Al'righ', so Dark Arts," he said, looking at the books that some students had bothered to take out. "You won' be needing those books." Morag, along with the other Ravenclaws and a few other students, hurriedly stuffed the textbook - _A Guide To The Dark Arts - _back in her bag. She hadn't thought it strange when buying it, since it was necessary to know something about the Dark Arts in order to defend against it, but she had realized looking through it the previous night that there was no defense written in the book. It was all about how to perform the Dark Arts as opposed to their normal course of protecting against them.

Thinking about this, she nearly missed the next words that Amycus Carrow was saying. "So, in here -" he pulled a large box from behind his desk, and set it where everybody could see it. It was quite obvious that something was moving inside it. "I've got some animals. Each o' ya come up here, take one, bring it back to your desk. I'll tell ya what we'll do with 'em once you've all got some."

Slowly, apprehensively, the students moved upwards to collect an animal from Carrow's box. Morag was one of the last students to do so because of her back-row seat, and she hastily grabbed one and moved back before any more attention could be drawn to her. The animal she had grabbed was a rather large frog; there were other frogs as well, along with some mice. The frog sat docilely on her desk, although she held her wand at the ready in case she had to Summon it back.

Carrow examined the class again, making sure that everyone had some animal sitting on his or her desk. Several students were looking distastefully between the animals and Carrow, a few were preventing their animal from leaving the desk, and two students - Crabbe and Goyle - were poking their frogs with their wands. "I know you've all heard o' the Unforgivable Curses," Carrow said. Neville leaned over and muttered something to Seamus. "Each o' ya choose one and try it on your animal. I want to see somethin' happen by the end o' class."

The Slytherins began instantly. Crabbe and Goyle looked rather gleeful about the whole thing, and the others were definitely attempting, although their faces showed looks of concentration rather than joy. There was a hesitation among the other students, and Morag paused as well; she didn't have any desire to curse the frog, nor did she want to be the first non-Slytherin to try. She glanced over at Mandy, next to her in the back row. Mandy's mouse was running around the desk, although a barrier had been constructed around the edge so it couldn't escape.

"I said, each o' ya choose one and try it on your animal! Didn't ya hear me?" Carrow's voice had increased in volume. Morag saw Michael's hand - the one holding his wand - twitch, as though he was ready to, but even he refrained from doing so, and suddenly Parvati Patil stood up. Padma buried her face in her hand as her sister began to speak.

"That's absolutely barbaric!" she said fiercely, glaring at the squat Death Eater. Morag felt a surge of respect for Parvati, whom she had previously dismissed as boy-crazy and not particularly interesting. "I don't want to learn how to use the Unforgivable Curses."

"Neither do I." Neville stood up, hands shaking slightly. Even the Slytherins had stopped attempting curses to watch the drama unfold.

Seamus rose from his chair. "You can't make me."

"Oh, can't I?" Carrow looked just as furious as Parvati. Padma trembled in her seat, taking her hands away from her face so she could see what was going on. Worry for her sister was etched all over her face, and she nodded her head at Parvati's empty seat, wordlessly telling her sister to sit. Parvati didn't sit down, though, and neither did Neville or Seamus. "If ya don't do what I say, then it'll be ya gettin' a taste o' those curses." He looked away from the three Gryffindors towards the silent Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. "Tha' goes for all o' ya as well!"

Slowly the Gryffindors sat down; the class was filled with mutterings, but Morag could tell that few people were actually trying. She decided to do the same thing - pointing her wand at the frog, she murmured, "Imperio," but didn't even attempt to actually do anything about it. She kept this up for the whole class, sporadically pretending to try cursing the frog when Carrow glanced in her direction, but not putting anything into the spell.

Carrow was displeased when the class time was up and few people actually had made progress, but he wasn't able to say anything. He dismissed them with a wave of his hand after they had dropped the animals back in the box, and Morag was left to sigh with relief. Nothing had really happened in there; sure, the Gryffindors had protested but nothing had really come of it. Apparently this wasn't worth getting worked up over, which made sense.

She shivered, though, when she realized what could happen next. What if Carrow actually went through with his threat - what if he actually used the Unforgivable Curses on students?

The realization was something that she'd never imagined having to think about, and she sighed again. _Hogwarts has really changed._

* * *

**Yeah, I'm a little nervous about this chapter but I'm also satisfied with it. Amycus's accent was a little hard to write, but I think it's okay. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

About ten days or so passed, with nothing D.A.-related occurring. Morag knew they had met twice so far, since Padma, Mandy, Su, Terry, Anthony, and Kevin had disappeared from the common room for two hours at night on two separate occasions, and it was rather obvious what they were doing. The D.A. hadn't done anything outwardly, however, and Morag had started to believe that they weren't going to rebel, and that it was just going to be practicing defensive spells that they certainly weren't learning in class.

Out of the two Carrow classes, Morag preferred Dark Arts to Muggle Studies. After the first day, the Gryffindors hadn't protested again, and everybody would simply collect their animal - a frog or a mouse - and return to their desk, where they either attempted an Unforgivable or pretended to attempt an Unforgivable. None of the students had succeeded completely yet, and although it was obviously annoying Carrow, he couldn't actually claim they weren't trying since he had no proof. It was uneventful, and Morag liked that.

On the other hand, Muggle Studies was by far the worst class Morag had ever been in. Alecto Carrow spent the whole class period lecturing about how Muggles were, in her terms, 'stupid, foolish animals'. Occasionally she would derive slightly, and talk about how superior wizards were to Muggles, but overall the class was the most infuriating thing ever, and even Morag had to concentrate on keeping herself in her seat and not protesting the things Alecto Carrow said.

Morag was in Dark Arts one morning, idly glancing at her frog. Her position in the back row meant that she didn't have to be as diligent as those in the front rows, as she wasn't seen quite easily; she was seated behind Wayne Hopkins, a Hufflepuff boy who was rather large and hid her from view. She still occasionally jabbed her wand at the frog and murmured the incantation, but less frequently.

Michael, seated next to her, furrowed his brow suddenly as he stared straight ahead. Morag leaned over, peering around Wayne to see what was going on. Behind Amycus Carrow, a piece of chalk had levitated - a result of one of the students, no doubt - and was writing words on the board. Carrow didn't even notice; he was looking at a copy of the _Daily Prophet _and occasionally looking at the students to see if any of them had succeeded yet.

Whoever was levitating the chalk was probably doing it under their desk, as Morag couldn't see who was behind it. Messily, the chalk scrawled out 'Carrow'. Even the Slytherins weren't saying anything to him about the chalk; it seemed as though everybody was curious as to what was going on. He looked up from his paper and the students began attempting curses again, but the moment he disappeared behind the _Prophet _all eyes once again turned to the chalkboard.

When the chalk settled back down, the message read out, 'Carrow is an idiot'. The whole thing was very messy, as it couldn't have been easy to levitate a piece of chalk with such precision that it was able to write, but it was certainly legible. As soon as it dropped back down with a slight noise, a couple of the students couldn't hold back their chortles; Morag was one of them. Seamus Finnigan was practically in stitches, Parvati had an ear-to-ear grin, and even the Slytherin Daphne Greengrass was smirking.

It got to the point where finally Carrow couldn't ignore it any longer; he set down the paper and narrowed his eyes at the students. "What's so funny?" he snapped, looking from one student to another. They sobered up quickly, and nobody laughed anymore as Blaise Zabini pointed.

"Look behind you, Professor," he suggested.

Carrow spun around, his back to the class as he looked at the message on the chalkboard. It took him a little while to decipher the message, but he finally turned around, his eyes narrowed even further. "If one o' ya doesn't confess to that," he snarled, "I'll put the lot o' ya in detention. An' ya don't want that, I'm sure." He fidgeted with his wand, looking as though he was eager to use it on one of the students. Morag looked around at the others, wondering if somebody was going to confess to writing it.

It seemed, for a little while, as though nobody was going to. After a moment, though, Lavender stood up; Neville rose to his feet barely a second after she did. "It was me," Lavender said, her voice wavering slightly.

"No, it was me!" Neville protested, shooting her a look. Morag wondered if this was part of the plan.

"If it was me, it couldn't have been you!" Lavender retorted.

This probably could have gone on for the rest of the class if Carrow hadn't intervened. "Both o' ya, then!" he snapped, quickly erasing the words off the chalkboard. "Both o' ya have got detention. Righ' after classes, meet me in the dungeons." That sounded ominous, Morag thought, and exchanging a glance with Michael proved that he thought the same exact thing she did.

After that, everybody was quite subdued; they filed out quietly at the end of class, barely talking.

* * *

Morag didn't know what had happened to Neville and Lavender until the next day; there was no chance to talk to them about it that night, or during classes the next day. That afternoon she headed back to Ravenclaw common room after the last class of the day, hoping that perhaps Padma or one of the other D.A. members would have information. Padma had left the Ravenclaw common room for a little while the previous night, although she had gone straight to bed when she returned and didn't talk about anything. She probably knew, Morag mused.

Padma and the others weren't in the common room, although it was full of many younger students. On a hunch, Morag headed up to the boys' dormitory; it had been their occasional meeting place when the common room was too crowded and they didn't want people to overhear them, or they just didn't have enough chairs. As she pushed the door open she saw that the others were already there; apparently they had gotten there even before she had.

"Do you know what happened to Neville and Lavender?" Morag asked instantly, sitting down on Stephen Cornfoot's empty bed.

Padma's eyes flashed. "Yes, I do - those Carrows are absolutely barbaric. Neville and Lavender went down to the dungeons yesterday, and the Carrows - yes, both of them - used Dark magic on them. Neville had some slashes on his face - looked like they were made with a knife, but he said it was a spell - and they both were put under the Cruciatus Curse. They had to go to the hospital wing afterwards; that's why they don't look so bad today."

"That's terrible!" Su was the first one to say the words, but within seconds all the others had similar exclamations. "They can't do that." A brief pause met her words.

"Can they?" Mandy asked, her voice even quieter than normal as she looked from one Ravenclaw to another. "Can they actually get away with doing that?"

"Who's going to stop them?" Michael sounded bitter. "Snape's Headmaster, he's a Death Eater, it's not like he's going to prevent them from doing anything like that. I bet as long as we're kept alive, they're free to do whatever the hell they want."

Anthony and Terry exchanged a glance, and Anthony asked the question that was probably at the forefront of all their minds. "Should we stay in the D.A.?"

"I am," Kevin said instantly, reaching under his bed and pulling out a large crate, which was labeled Extra Potions Ingredients in what looked like marker. "Yes, I know I don't take Potions," he said as Padma opened her mouth to speak. "It's labeled that way in case anybody sees it." He pulled open the top, which revealed small boxes of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products of all different types. "Look, I bought all of this - I'm not going to let it go to waste. I'm going to use it, and the Carrows look like perfect targets."

"We can't leave the D.A.," Su said. "We have to show the Carrows that they don't scare us." She helped Kevin slide the box back under his bed. "I'd understand if anybody else wanted out, but personally, I want to show these people what they're up against."

There was a pause before Padma, Mandy, Anthony, and Terry - the latter two whispering to themselves for a couple minutes - all nodded, saying affirmations that yes, they weren't going to leave. Michael was staring at the floor, and finally he looked up. "Yeah, this is probably the most idiotic thing I'm ever going to do in my life, but I'm in. They can't get away with using the Cruciatus Curse on students - they need to learn that's not right." He sighed, shaking his head. "I cannot believe I'm doing this."

"Neither can I," Su said, sticking her tongue out at him. "What happened to Mr. Let's Wait And See What Happens?"

"We waited. We saw what happens," Kevin pointed out. "This is bad - we've got to show them that people are still fighting against them. Even if," and he nodded at Michael and Morag, "even if you believe the war is over, we can still show them that not everyone supports what they're doing."

Padma nodded. "Exactly. We're going to learn defensive magic, since it's not like we're learning any in Dark Arts, and we're going to fight back against these Death Eaters any way we can. It may not be the smartest thing to do, but it's the right thing to do."

Morag took a deep breath and let it out again, thoughts swirling back and forth in her mind. The D.A. fighting back against the Carrows, even at the risk of the Cruciatus Curse, was absolutely insane. It was risky, it was dangerous, and it was incredibly Gryffindor. Padma was right - it wasn't a smart thing to do. But she was also correct in saying that it was the right thing to do. Sometimes the right thing to do wasn't the smartest, and sometimes the smartest thing to do wasn't the right thing to do. She glanced up, meeting Padma's eyes.

"I'm joining the D.A."

* * *

**Slightly shorter chapter - although it is more than 1500 words - but I felt that was the perfect place to end it, and I didn't want to go any farther in this chapter because then it would go on way too long. Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next couple of days, Morag noticed that what happened to Neville and Lavender had spread all over the school. There were several variations of the tale floating around, from the sensible - Neville and Lavender had done something to upset the Carrows, and had received detention - to the absolutely absurd - Neville and Lavender had attacked one of the Carrows and had attempted to escape the school through a window, only to be stopped because Carrow threatened to perform the Cruciatus Curse on every single student.

This current rumor - which was the most ridiculous one that Morag had heard yet - was being discussed by a couple of first years who were seated in the common room near Morag and the others. They were talking quite loudly, and as a result the eight seventh years could hear every word that was being said. They were all chuckling; this happened every single time that gossip spread around the school. There was always some ridiculous rumor that came from it, especially amongst the younger students.

"So," Morag said once the two first years had gone up to bed, "when's the next meeting?" Although they were alone - it was quite late - she still felt nervous about mentioning the D.A. by name in public. It was a secret group, after all, and it wouldn't be secret if they blabbed about it all the time. "Do you know?"

"Yes," Padma answered. "It's the day after tomorrow at eight o'clock."

"It starts before curfew," Anthony explained, "but ends after. There's nothing we can do about that, really, but we wanted to start earlier so there's less chance of being caught by the Carrows or anybody patrolling. This way, we only have to worry about getting back after, not before."

"That makes sense," Michael said. "This should be interesting."

* * *

'Interesting' was the perfect way to describe it, Morag mused as she left the Room of Requirement after the D.A. meeting. Everybody had, surprisingly, arrived on time; for the amount of people that were there, that was astonishing. All the seventh years, apart from Slytherins, were there; there was also a large amount of fifth and sixth years as well. There were even a few fourth years, although certainly not as many as there were from the three upper years.

Once everybody had arrived, they got to work almost instantly. They were each paired up with somebody from their year - Morag was with Su - and they practiced Stunning Spells and Shield Charms. By the end of the meeting, everybody had made progress; Morag had never actually needed to use either one of those spells before, and as a result had started off as clueless as one of the fourth years. After practicing for a while, though, she was able to produce a Stunner powerful enough to knock Su backwards onto the floor, and a Shield Charm that could repel a few minor jinxes.

The thing she had been most surprised about, though, was the people who were running the D.A. Padma had mentioned that Ginny Weasley, in the year below them, had been a big help in getting it started. That hadn't surprised Morag; it was well-known around the school that she had dated Harry Potter the previous year, and that she had been in the Department of Mysteries and fought Death Eaters the year before. The other two amazed her, though. One of them was Neville Longbottom; although she knew that he, too, had been in the Department of Mysteries, she figured that had been purely by accident.

After all, who would expect that he would be able to do much of anything? Since first year he had been one of the worst students in almost all classes apart from Herbology. She hadn't thought much of him for the past six years - she had never outright made fun of him like the Slytherins, but she had never made an effort to get close to him, either.

The fact that Luna Lovegood was the third D.A. leader surprised her as much as Neville did. Luna was a year below her, and as a result the two of them had not interacted much, but Morag knew who Luna was - most Ravenclaws did, to be honest. It was very hard to miss Luna, who would talk about the Quibbler - hands-down the weirdest magazine on earth - and strange, nonexistent creatures to anybody who would listen. Morag had never really talked much to Luna, and so seeing her right below Neville in terms of the D.A.'s leadership was quite an experience.

She shook that thought out of her head. She had to get back to Ravenclaw Tower quickly; it was already ten-thirty, which was decidedly after curfew. Surely someone was patrolling the castle, and she really didn't want to run into anybody. Especially if those people were Carrow supporters who would haul her in for detention. If she had to get detention, she wanted it to be for something much better than wandering around the castle late at night.

They had left the Room of Requirement sporadically, all of them going alone even though they were all heading back to one of three destinations - Ravenclaw Tower, Gryffindor Tower, or the Hufflepuff common room. The idea behind it had been so if someone was caught, they were alone, as opposed to all of the people from one house getting caught. If the eight seventh year Ravenclaws had gone back together, and someone had come upon them, there would have been eight people in detention.

Morag strained her ears for any sounds. Avoiding detention was definitely top on her list of priorities at the moment. There wasn't any sounds for a little while, but then she suddenly heard something. Freezing in place - she couldn't make out, quite yet, where the sound was coming from - she listened even harder, and within a short time could make out the conversation between two people.

"I saw something back there. Don't be ridiculous, Daphne."

"Pansy, I really don't get why you want to be out here. Turning students into the Carrows...do you really think that's the wisest thing to do?" Daphne sounded slightly exasperated. That didn't surprise Morag; Daphne seemed nicer than most of the other Slytherins. The two girls had worked together one time, when there had been assigned partners in class, and things had gone smoothly. She didn't really want to run into them, however; even if Daphne didn't really want to turn students in, Pansy would.

"Of course it is! The Carrows have the right mindset - don't tell me you're siding with those idiot Gryffindors."

"I just think that turning other students over might be a bit excessive - we should leave discipline to the Carrows themselves. It would turn students against us, and I don't want to get involved at this point -"

The whole time Morag had been steadily backing up, still listening to make sure that she wasn't headed straight for them. Just as Daphne paused, though, her foot landed on a particularly creaky section of floor; Pansy half-shouted, "Who's there?"

Morag heard footsteps, and she instinctively turned around, running. She doubted that Pansy and Daphne would be able to catch up with her; Daphne wouldn't try, and Pansy hated exercise and would get out of breath very quickly. She didn't have to go that far before she was again surrounded by complete silence, and this time she was able to sneak up to Ravenclaw Tower with no problems.

All of the others were already waiting for her; apparently they had been able to go straight up. "Sorry," she said, dropping into a chair. "Parkinson and Daphne were wandering around, and I had to go the long way."

"I thought you had been caught," Padma said worriedly. "I figured that the Carrows - or perhaps some of the Slytherins..."

"I had been worrying about that myself," Morag replied. "Thankfully the castle's so large - it's quite easy to avoid people." She glanced around the common room. There were several other students still there, but they were all focused on doing schoolwork, for the most part. The section of the common room where the eight of them were was a little ways away from everybody else; as long as they kept their voices low, no one would be able to hear. "At the meeting...they didn't mention anything about rebelling against the Carrows. I'm kind of surprised."

"Just because they didn't mention anything doesn't mean that I'm not doing anything," Kevin said, his eyes gleaming. "I do have that box of, er, 'extra potions ingredients' upstairs, and I plan to use them. I already have a few things planned."

"You're not worried about detention?" Michael raised his eyebrows.

Kevin shrugged. "The way I imagine it...most of us are probably going to end up in detention at some point anyway. I mean, I highly doubt we can be rebelling against the Carrows and also avoiding trouble. It just doesn't seem possible. And if I do get detention, I'd much rather have it be for something interesting than for being late or something stupid like that."

Su glanced towards the staircase. "Can I share some of your products?"

"I've got enough for most of us."

"Excellent." She grinned, then glanced over at Morag. "You want anything?"

"I..." Morag paused. "I don't know. On one hand, I want to do something, but on the other hand, the detentions..."

"How about this," Su said, "I'll use some WWW product first, see how it goes, and then, you - that goes for all of you - can decide what you want to do. I don't mind being the one who goes first."

"You sure?"

"I wasn't almost a Gryffindor for nothing," Su replied, a slightly devilish look on her face. It was certain that she was already planning something.

What, Morag didn't know.

Slowly they trickled off to bed, one at a time, until only Morag and Su remained. "Do you know what you're going to do?" Morag asked, twisting her hands together. She hated the idea of the Carrows' detentions, and even more so, hated the idea of Su being the recipient of one of those detentions. They were so close, partially as a result of sharing a room for six years and partially because they hung out often, and she didn't want to see the other girl get hurt. "And...are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure that I want to do something," Su said easily, putting her feet up on one of the now-empty chairs. "I mean, I don't want to behave myself the whole year. This is our last year at Hogwarts - I want to go out with a bang. Don't know exactly what to do yet, but I'm going to think of something. I've got a few ideas already."

"You want to go out with a bang?" Morag chuckled. "You really do idolize the Weasley twins, don't you?"

The other girl laughed, running a hand through her black hair. "Imagine them here, during this year? With the Carrows and Snape..."

"All hell would be breaking loose," replied Morag.

"More so than it is already."


	7. Chapter 7

A while passed with nothing from Su. Although a few D.A. members sneaked out to write 'Dumbledore's Army' on a wall in the Entrance Hall, they weren't caught; the ink they used was somehow washed off before morning, also, and nobody saw it. A few other people ended up in detention - Seamus Finnegan this time, and a couple students from lower years that Morag didn't know - but on the whole, there really wasn't too much that was happening.

Morag stumbled into Dark Arts one October morning, bleary-eyed. She had stayed up late the previous night with her roommates, working on various assignments that had been neglected. Once they had finished with school, they had moved on to simply talking and acting like normal seventeen-year-old girls, and they hadn't stopped until nearly two am. As a result, she wasn't paying attention to much of anything as she dropped into her back-row seat.

"Look up," Michael hissed, "at the chalkboard."

She twisted to see around Wayne's large figure. On the board was a chalk drawing; it was actually quite nicely done, if one looked at the style rather than the content itself. Whoever it was, she mused, certainly had artistic talent. The drawing was of Alecto and Amycus Carrow; they were instantly noticeable by their short, squat figures, the mean expressions on their faces, and the Dark Marks on each of their left forearms. That wasn't all, though - the artist, whoever it was, had traced a large circle around them, with a diagonal slash through it. The message was simple: No Carrows.

Morag chuckled; the drawing was accurate, and she instantly wondered who had done it. She glanced over at Su; perhaps this was what Su had been planning? But no, she promptly corrected herself. Su wasn't any more of an artist than Morag herself. They had discussed their mutual lack of drawing skills before. There was no way that Su could have drawn that picture.

Amycus Carrow entered the room a short while later, his brow instantly furrowing when he saw the picture. "Who drew that?" he snapped when he reached the front of the classroom. "Which one o' ya was it?" His eyes scanned the classroom, but apparently he wasn't able to distinguish a culprit just by looking; he gave up on that and turned around to wipe it off.

Whoever it was hadn't bothered to do anything special with the drawing, as it came off the second he slid the eraser over it. That was also a surprise, for Morag had figured that the D.A. members would have done something that didn't come off quite so easily. Their graffiti in the Entrance Hall had been done with supplies from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which were notoriously difficult to get off, but somebody had done it. It was unknown who that person was, also. Perhaps there was somebody in the school who wasn't part of the D.A., but also hated the Carrows, she mused, watching as Carrow got rid of the last chalk markings on the board.

Carrow turned around again. "Who did that?" he demanded again, but nobody stood up. Either the person who drew it wasn't in this class, or they were determined not to get detention. The class was completely silent as Carrow said, "If any o' ya know stuff about who drew that picture, then ya tell me or Alecto. Clear?" The class was once again quiet, but Carrow didn't comment further; the lesson continued normally.

* * *

A couple of days after the mysterious drawing on the chalkboard, Morag was eating breakfast in the Great Hall, a couple of the others with her. Padma had stayed behind in the common room to complete a Muggle Studies 'essay', and Kevin and Su were nowhere to be found, but all the others - Michael, Anthony, Terry, and Mandy- were still there. She was just finishing, ready to leave, when suddenly fireworks shot through the open doorways. They had obviously come from the Entrance Hall.

The fireworks twirled around, popping, spraying the room with sparks and lighting it up. The air was full of colors; some of the fireworks were relatively normal, while others were obviously enchanted. She was most amused by one that had flown right up to the staff table, to the center where Snape was sitting, the Carrows on either side, and formed a very rude gesture right in front of them. Professor Sinistra was struggling not to laugh; she was covering her mouth with her robe. McGonagall was in better control of herself, but for Morag - who was seated on the end nearest the staff table - she could see the Transfiguration teacher's mouth quivering slightly. A couple of the other teachers exchanged glances before returning their attention forward to the students.

The students, on the whole, seemed to greatly appreciate the fireworks. Several of the Gryffindors were clapping and cheering, and even a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were on their feet. Most students were laughing, chuckling, or smiling - especially at the rude gesture in front of the three Death Eaters - and even some at the Slytherin table had smirks and slight grins on their faces. Morag couldn't help but note Daphne Greengrass was one of them.

It was a short while before the Carrows and Snape started to attempt to rid the Great Hall of fireworks; none of them seemed to know exactly how to get rid of them. The Carrows, who hadn't been there two years previous when fireworks had been let loose on the school, attempted to Vanish and Stun them - both of which resulted in more fireworks. Snape knew not to do those things, but he didn't know how to actually get rid of them, either.

The three Death Eaters were in the middle of attempting to get rid of them when Kevin and Su strolled in.

Morag clapped her hand over her forehead. So this was their idea of making trouble? It was such a Gryffindor thing to do - why couldn't they have gone with something more subtle? They were acting like Gryffindors, also; they high-fived one another and cheered with the others, their slightly sooty faces marking them out as the culprits. The Great Hall quieted down when the students saw the two of them enter, and when Snape and the Carrows turned around, the Hall was so silent Morag could have heard a pin drop.

"I can assume," Snape said, "that the two of you are behind this." He had to speak relatively loudly to be heard over the continued bangs of the fireworks, and as a result most of the Great Hall could hear him clearly.

"Yep," Su said cheerfully, popping the P. "Wasn't it brilliant?"

He didn't answer her question. "Miss Li, Mr. Entwhistle, I would like to see the two of you in my office. Professors Carrow, please follow me as well." Snape swept away, the Carrows trailing behind, Su and Kevin waving at everybody as they headed out. They were much too upbeat for the whole situation, in Morag's opinion, but she didn't say a thing.

* * *

That night, Michael, Anthony, Terry, Padma, Mandy, and Morag headed directly up to Ravenclaw Tower after supper. That had been their routine since school started, but it felt strange now - Su and Kevin weren't making the journey with them. The two had gone to detention after they had finished eating, and they wouldn't be back for who knew how long. The atmosphere was slightly subdued as the six of them settled down in their regular area and began working on some essays and assorted schoolwork assignments.

A while passed. Morag couldn't say for sure how long, as she didn't have a watch on, but it seemed like forever. Finally, the door opened and the two people they had been waiting for stumbled through. Something was off, though; Morag noticed it instantly. Su was leaning heavily on Kevin, who was nearly supporting all her weight; her face was pale, and her robes were torn at the shoulder.

The two of them collapsed into seats, both looking relieved. "What happened?" Padma demanded, rising to her feet.

"Carrows," Kevin, who seemed out of breath but in better shape than Su, panted. "They - they went harder on her than me. Tortured her longer. And then she talked back," he paused for breath again, "so Alecto used some other spell on her that cut her."

Padma carefully moved aside the robes covering Su's shoulder, pulling it down enough so that her whole shoulder was exposed. Normally Michael, and possibly Kevin, would have made some lewd comment about that, but even they knew this wasn't the time. There was a long - although not deep - cut there, still bleeding. Mandy looked away, slightly green - she had always been a bit more squeamish than the others.

"Do we need Madam Pomfrey?" Morag asked, standing up as well.

"Wait a second," Padma said, looking at Anthony. "You said you were interested in being a Healer. Do you know anything about healing cuts like this?"

"I can try." Anthony took Padma's place, pulling out his wand. He murmured a few different incantations, none of which Morag had heard before, and on the last one the cut sealed up, leaving in its place an angry pink line. He Vanished the blood and pulled Su's robe back up. She instantly looked a little better.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "Anyway, we've got detention for the next two days as well. Apparently we pulled a pretty big stunt." She still managed to look a bit proud of herself, even though she certainly wasn't completely better. "Oh, and just so you know, everybody - if you ever get detention, I would definitely advise you not to say 'That all you got? A first year could do better than that'. I think it infuriates them."

"Did you seriously say that?" Michael looked awed.

"Yes, she did!" Kevin rolled his eyes. "I think they were nearly done, too."

"Oh, yes, and whose idea was this in the first place? Hmm...yours!"

"You volunteered to help me!"

Morag sighed as Kevin and Su continued to bicker. It was good to know that some things, at least, never changed.


	8. Chapter 8

Thankfully, Kevin and Su's other detentions weren't as bad as the first one. Although they came back tired and sore, the Carrows had refrained from torturing them as badly as they had done to Su the first day; on the last night, in fact, Kevin did a victory dance when the two of them returned. "See?" he crowed. "That wasn't so bad now, was it?" He spun Su around. "They can't control us, can they?"

"You're absolutely mental," Padma said, rolling her eyes. "Can you stop making a scene in the middle of the common room? People are staring!" She said this last part loud enough so that the people who had indeed been looking ended up turning away; Kevin sighed.

"Fine," he answered, sitting down with the other seventh years. "By the way, Michael, I bet you regret breaking up with Ginny Weasley now." He whistled. "She's gotten hot. Or, well, even hotter than she already was. Did you see her -"

"Don't finish that sentence," Padma warned.

"Shut up," Michael grumbled to Kevin, who smirked at him.

"I'm going up to the dormitory," she said, rolling her eyes at the boys like Padma had done just seconds before. "I've got some reading to do, and I think it would be much more enjoyable than listening to you two discuss Ginny Weasley's attributes."

"I'll come," Morag said quickly, shutting the Transfiguration book she had been attempting to read. "I can't read down here either, it's much too noisy. And you two -" she gestured to Michael and Kevin - "are certainly not helping." She followed Su up the stairs, the two of them going slower than normal; even though the Carrows had been a bit less harsh, Su was still in no shape to run up a flight of stairs like she usually did. They entered the dormitory, sitting on their separate beds, but Su didn't make a move to take out her book.

"What did you have to read?" Morag asked. "Or were you just trying to get away from the boys?"

"Kind of. And...I was hoping that you or one of the others would follow me up here." She fidgeted with a frayed edge of the blanket. "I...I wanted to talk to you about something." She avoided Morag's gaze and kept twisting the blanket. This wasn't like Su at all - usually she was very outspoken, almost Gryffindor-like. Morag couldn't remember the last time that Su had been nervous like this - was it first year, maybe, when she was going up to be Sorted? Or Quidditch tryouts, a few years back? It was a rarity, certainly.

"What is it?" She put the Transfiguration book on the small table by her bed, turning her attention to Su. It had been a little while since they had gotten a chance to talk alone; usually, it was either all eight seventh-year Ravenclaws, or the four girls.

"Well, I..." Su took a deep breath. "Merlin, I have no idea how to say this. At all." She bit her lip, looking down at the blanket that she was still toying with, and took another deep breath. "But I really wanted to tell somebody. Morag, I - I fancy girls."

Morag's first thought was that this wasn't what she had been expecting. If she was honest, she had no idea what Su had wanted to say, at first - certainly Su hadn't been clear, and Morag was no expert at reading between the lines or guessing what somebody wanted to say. If she thought about it, Su fancying girls, she supposed it made sense; it wasn't as though Su had ever dated anybody. She had gone to the Yule Ball with Stephen Cornfoot, but it was obvious to everybody that it was simply because most of the others had paired up - Morag and Michael, Terry and Lisa, and Anthony and Mandy. Kevin and Padma had both gone with people outside their house, but they were the exception. It certainly wasn't as if Su and Stephen had dated.

Su hadn't dated anybody else, either - even in sixth year when it seemed that everybody was dating somebody. Morag, Padma, Lisa, and Mandy had all found boyfriends at some point during that year, and although Padma had attempted to set Su up with a few people, none of those had ever worked. And Su had never talked about boys with them, even in passing, and although Morag knew these things didn't necessarily mean Su liked girls, it made sense looking back.

Su finally stopped twisting the edge of the blanket. "Does it - does it bother you?"

Morag wrinkled her forehead. "No. Why would it?"

"Well, I know a lot of people don't..." Su let the sentence trail off.

"We've been friends for six years, Su, it would take a lot more than that to bother me. I'm not going to stop being friends with you over this." She swung her legs off of the bed and crossed over to where Su was. Sitting down next to her, she pulled Su in for a quick hug. "Look, it doesn't matter to me who you like. And I think that the others would be all right with it, too - we're all pretty close, you know."

A small grin crept across Su's face. "I think Michael and Kevin would think it was kind of hot."

Morag chuckled. "Yeah, they probably wouldn't leave you alone, you know. They might just arrange for you to go out with somebody...and then watch the whole date to see if you kiss."

"They would do that, wouldn't they?" Su smirked, and Morag grinned again as she hopped back onto her own bed, sprawling out. There was a couple moments of silence, and then Su said, "There's more."

Morag had reached out for her Transfiguration book, thinking the conversation was finished, but when Su spoke she quickly withdrew her hand, hastily focusing on her friend again. "Tell me," she said, leaning back against the pillows.

"Well, the girl that I fancy..." She glanced towards the door, as if she was afraid that Padma or Mandy might stroll through at any second. "I fancy Lisa," she said miserably, "but now, she's not even here, and I'll probably never get to see her again."

"Oh, don't say that," Morag said, trying to sound upbeat. She didn't completely know what to do in this situation - it was Padma who was the comforter and the mother of the group, not her - but she figured that reassuring her would be the best thing to do. "You're the one who said that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are out there doing something to stop You-Know-Who. They just might come back and save the day, you know." Morag didn't fully believe it herself; she was still undecided on the issue of whether or not the war was completely over. It seemed that way, but then, there was the chance that those three might have something up their sleeves.

Su spoke, distracting Morag from her thoughts. "I never got to tell her how I felt. I was so worried that she wouldn't feel the same way, and that she wouldn't even want to be friends anymore because I fancied girls, and now...I just wish I had told her something. Or what if...what if I die in this war, and -"

"You're not going to die in this war," Morag said firmly, "because you're not going to do anything stupid. Right?"

Su grinned weakly. "Right."

Hoping that Su would stick to that promise, Morag continued, "And Lisa is smart enough to hide herself somewhere. She won't let herself get caught by Death Eaters. And I'm sure, if - when this war ends," she quickly corrected herself, "Lisa will come back."

If Su noticed Morag's slip, she didn't draw attention to it. "I suppose you're right," she said slowly, pulling the elastic out of her hair so that it fell down her back. She had been tying it up for detention, so that it didn't get in the way, which made a lot of sense. "I just hope that it ends soon. I mean, what could the three of them be doing out there?"

"I have no idea," Morag answered. "Maybe trying to find out information on how to defeat You-Know-Who. I mean, he's certainly more powerful than them - it's not like they're going to be able to just stroll up to Death Eater headquarters and ask to duel him."

Su snorted at the mental image. "What is Death Eater headquarters, do you think?"

"The Ministry of Magic?" Morag replied, causing Su to burst into laughter. "But no, really, I don't know. I can't picture them just using any old place."

"Anyway," Su said, "how will they defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? You're right, it's not like they could just barge in on him and start a duel."

"Again, I have absolutely no idea," Morag said, staring out the window. "I just hope that it's soon." She thought of Lisa, Stephen, Dean, Justin, Hermione...all the Muggle-born students who were either hiding out somewhere or being forced to go to the Ministry's 'Muggle-born Registration Commission'. There was no need for that; they had just as much right to a Hogwarts education and a good job as a pureblood or half-blood. She thought of her sister Katrina, who was never talked about because of the fear of people judging - and, now, the fear of Death Eaters doing something bad to Katrina.

She thought of the Carrows' cruel punishments that had already affected Neville, Lavender, Seamus, Kevin, Su, and other, younger students that she didn't even know. All of this was wrong, completely wrong. She had known it before, but in that moment it struck her like a ton of bricks. She had to do something about this war; more than she ever had before, she wanted to fight back against Death Eaters to prevent them from doing anything like this.

Morag made up her mind in that moment. She would fight in this war, she would do whatever it takes. Her words from a few minutes ago - 'because you're not going to do anything stupid' came back to her, and she sighed slightly. She had already discovered earlier this year that sometimes, the smartest thing to do wasn't the right thing to do.

Now, she was going to do the right thing to do, even if it wasn't smart. Morag was ready to fight; already, she couldn't wait for the next D.A. meeting.

* * *

**Lisa/Su is a Mew and Mor's Weird Pairing, and so credit for it belongs to them. I love this pairing, though, and so I had to include them, even if it's only one-sided here. **


	9. Chapter 9

Although Morag wanted to do something interesting for the D.A. - not necessarily something as brazen as Su and Kevin's fireworks, but _something_ - she didn't get the chance initially. The D.A. met up a few more times in October, but these meetings were dedicated much more to practicing defensive spells than rebelling against the Carrows. She had tried thinking up plans herself, but nothing had come to mind, and she knew that if she asked Su or Kevin for help, they'd probably come up with something absolutely crazy.

Despite Morag's inactivity - which she didn't appreciate - October was, by no means, a dull month. A couple days after Su had confessed to Morag that she was lesbian, Su had also told the others at varying points. Everybody was relatively fine with it, to Su's happiness. Although Padma and Mandy were much more careful about changing clothes, and Kevin and Michael now would include Su whenever they talked about what girls were hottest, Su's revelation hadn't changed their dynamic very much at all.

Besides that, their Dark Arts classes had also changed. Amycus Carrow had finally caught on to how most of the students weren't actually doing Unforgivables. It had only taken him two months to realize that, apparently. The students were certainly right in saying that he was an idiot - anybody else would have noticed that much sooner. The result had been that each student had to come up to his desk and take a turn performing an Unforgivable Curse on their frog or mouse, right in front of him, and any student who didn't try would receive detention.

The Slytherins had no problem with this new format, of course. They had all been actually practicing since the beginning, and every class they had been more proficient than anybody else. The Ravenclaws were next - although none of them had been performing curses before, at this point they did. It would be stupid to receive detention for something this minor, and so they would all perform a weak Imperius Curse on their respective animals, and since they did actually succeed he couldn't do anything. Their curses weren't as strong as they could have been, but since they had actually produced some effect, he didn't penalize them.

The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, on the other hand, weren't so quick to accept it. The first day that he announced this change, nearly all of them got sent to detention. Each day, though, it dwindled further and further until every student in the class was producing an Unforgivable - although, in most of their cases, a very mild form of one - on his or her animal.

It had been noticed that there was a mysterious person going around the school writing and drawing things that portrayed the Carrows in a negative light. The person signed all of their artwork or writings with 'Love, the Secret Enemy', and it had become this person's moniker. Nobody actually knew who it was, although there were several theories going around. It wasn't known whether the person was part of the D.A. or not, what house they were in, or what year they were in.

The Secret Enemy usually targeted the Carrows' classrooms, and often on days that Morag had Dark Arts or Muggle Studies, she would walk into the classroom with the others and see a message or picture on the chalkboard. The messages were always rude to the Carrows - strong language was in nearly every one of them, and the messages were usually either insulting them or criticizing them. The drawings weren't that different, and after one particularly inappropriate yet detailed one of both Carrows, many of the younger students believed that the Carrows were in a relationship together.

Whoever it was, they were admired around the school just as much as the D.A. was - if not more. Everybody knew about the Secret Enemy, and everyone - apart from most Slytherins, found the drawings and pictures to be highly amusing. It was a mystery to who they were, and although Morag was just as curious as everybody else, she knew that most likely, the person wouldn't reveal his or her identity. If they had gone to this much trouble to stay secret, they were going to stay secret.

The last D.A. meeting of the month was held the day before Halloween, and just as everybody was about to leave, Neville stopped them. "Wait," he said, his voice resonating throughout the room. "Before you go, I just want to make you all aware of one thing. Tomorrow night, while everybody else is at the feast, Ginny, Luna, and I, are going to do something."

"And what is that 'something'?" Kevin asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a highly suggestive manner.

"Shut up, Entwhistle," Ginny said, "it has absolutely nothing to do with what you're imagining."

"What is it?" Susan Bones from Hufflepuff asked, twisting a strand of dark red hair around her finger.

Neville took a deep breath. "We're going to be breaking into Snape's office." A few gasps echoed throughout the crowd. "We want to steal the Sword of Gryffindor." Morag's forehead wrinkled in confusion; most of the others were giving each other similar looks, like they, too, had no idea what was actually going on here. "We know it's important, or else Snape wouldn't be keeping it locked up there where he can keep an eye on it."

"Need us to do anything?" Seamus called out.

"Sort of," Neville replied. "If you see Snape or the Carrows leaving the Halloween Feast, just try to distract them as long as you can. Don't get in trouble for it, please, but if you can keep them occupied for even a minute or two, that would be great. All right?" Nods and murmurs of assent spread throughout the room, and slowly the D.A. members trickled out.

Morag was on edge for most of the next day - the D.A., in general, was on edge. Morag could see it in the other Ravenclaws, and in the other seventh years that she shared classes with. Everybody was waiting anxiously for the Halloween Feast, and what would happen. They were all wondering the same thing: would Neville, Ginny, and Luna take possession of the sword, or would they get caught? And if they did get caught, what would happen to them?

The Halloween Feast itself was impressive as usual. The Great Hall was decorated lavishly and magnificently, just as it had been in prior years, and this decor uplifted many of the younger students, so that the room was once again full of excited chatter as opposed to the subdued conversations of the past two months. The louder talking of the younger students made up for the jittery nervousness of the older students, and the general aura was one of excitement. If somebody had looked into the Great Hall at that point, they wouldn't have been able to tell that anything was different this year.

Morag was just relaxing, thinking that everything was about to go normally and the Sword of Gryffindor would be stolen without a hitch. It was at that point that she noticed Snape stare at the Gryffindor table; his eyes swept it, before turning to the Ravenclaws. It looked as though he was looking for somebody - or, perhaps, three somebodies. He stood up, muttered something to Alecto Carrow, and then left, gliding down the center aisle. The doors slammed shut behind him.

She stood up, deciding that she would attempt to delay him. At least it was doing something - she had wanted that, hadn't she? She felt Kevin slip something into her pocket, but she ignored him and hurried out, rubbing her belly and grimacing as though she had a stomachache. It was a cliche excuse, and she wasn't sure if anybody would believe her. Thankfully, though, she wasn't stopped, and once she left the Great Hall she saw the corner of Snape's cloak disappearing around a corner. "Professor," she called loudly, running after him. "Professor!"

It wasn't long before she caught up to him; he was merely walking quickly, while she was running. "Professor," she gasped, panting a little.

"Miss MacDougal," he said coldly, "it seems as though you have forgotten that running in the corridors is not permitted."

"I had a question," she answered, less out of breath, her mind frantically trying to think of an excuse. "And, er, it was urgent."

He raised his eyebrows. "I do not have time for the inquiries of students who find it impossible to remember a rule that has been in place for centuries."

"It's, er, I was just wondering..." She paused, trying to buy both herself and the others a few more seconds. "I need to get in the Restricted Section of the library," she said, "For Dark Arts, you know. And I was wondering if you could give me a signature so I can do that."

"I am sure that Professor Carrow would be more than willing to assist you. It is his class you need the book for, after all."

Morag took a deep breath. "I don't know, sir, if Professor Carrow is capable of signing his own name."

There was a moment of silence where Morag was wondering whether or not Snape was going to give her detention, but instead he simply shook his head. "There are many professors at Hogwarts, and I assure you that they are all capable of writing. Go back to the feast, Miss MacDougal." He swept off, faster than last time, and she chased after him.

"Professor!"

"Miss MacDougal, I will give you detention if you do not go back to the feast at once," he answered. She paused, considering, and then Neville's order of 'Don't get in trouble for it' came back to her. She had distracted Snape for a short while, at least. She headed back, but at the last second she turned around and ran a different route to the Headmaster's office. She had never actually been up there, but she had been by it. Looking around - she only had a short time - she fidgeted in her pocket, reaching for her wand.

The first thing her fingers came across, though, wasn't her wand - it was a small package. Peering closely at it, she noticed it was labeled 'Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder'. _This must be what Kevin gave me, _she reasoned. _One of his Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, no doubt. _She tipped it out into her hand and threw it about. Within a second or two, the corridor was completely pitch-black; she couldn't see a single thing. Retreating back the way she had came, she grinned.

Neville, Ginny, and Luna wouldn't be bothered by it, she figured. Ginny would know exactly what it was, no doubt, and how to find her way through it. Snape, though, wouldn't recognize it, and would probably blunder around, at least for a short while, and try to find the exact position of the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the office. Perfect, she thought, and there was a skip in her step as she returned to the feast. She had done something for the D.A.. Maybe it wasn't the most glamorous or exciting thing, but it was something.


	10. Chapter 10

Unfortunately, as Morag learned at the next D.A. meeting, Snape had caught Neville, Ginny, and Luna trying to steal the sword. It had apparently been difficult to break the sword out of the glass case it was being kept in, for the case had been enchanted by Snape so that most basic spells didn't work on it. By the time that they had actually managed to get the sword out, Snape had barged into his office and given them detention. Thankfully, though, the detention was simply to help Hagrid with some duties in the Forbidden Forest.

Morag couldn't help but wonder why he had been so easy on them. He had been perfectly fine with giving Kevin and Su three days of detention with the Carrows for setting fireworks off in the Great Hall. She was sure, on the grand scheme of things, that breaking into the Headmaster's office and attempting to steal something was much worse. It was something that she couldn't understand at all, and so for the first couple weeks in November, wondering about that was at the forefront of her mind.

Another thing that Morag also found herself thinking a lot about was Lisa and Stephen. Because of the ridiculous 'no Muggle-borns' rule, they weren't there, and she couldn't help but wonder where they were, and if they were okay. A group of people called the Snatchers was said to be hunting Muggle-borns who hadn't shown up to the Muggle-born Registration Committee, and she wondered if Lisa and Stephen could outsmart them somehow. She wondered if they were alone, or if they had met up with others. She hoped it was the latter; it was doubtful that either one could take on a whole group of Snatchers at once.

She couldn't help but hope that they were surviving, and that someone would defeat You-Know-Who very soon.

* * *

It was the third week of November when the D.A. finally did something as a cohesive group. In the weeks leading up to this point, many of the members had gotten detention for talking back to the Carrows or pulling pranks and stunts like Kevin and Su had, but the D.A. hadn't done anything as a whole. It was rather exciting, then, when during this meeting Neville said, "Listen up, you lot - Ginny, Luna, and I have been thinking."

"Mate, that's a first for you, right?" Seamus interrupted.

"Shut it, Finnigan," Ginny answered.

"All right," Neville continued, acting as though Seamus and Ginny hadn't spoken at all, "so I'm assuming that everybody here knows about those pamphlets that the Carrows have been distributing."

"The ones about how Muggle-borns are 'magic-stealing abominations', you mean?" a fifth year - who Morag thought was called Demelza - answered.

"Those are the ones." He nodded. "Well, we came up with the idea to pass out fliers of our own, in a way." He took a piece of parchment out of his pocket. "Basically, it says that the D.A. is still recruiting, and that we aren't going to stand for any of what's going on - in Hogwarts or outside, in the regular world."

"If you're suggesting that we stand in the Entrance Hall and give these to every person who walks by, then you're absolutely mad," Michael said loudly. Padma rolled her eyes at him and nudged him to be quiet.

"We're not saying that at all," Ginny said coolly. "That'd be ridiculous, and would just get us all even more detention. We're going to sneak out at night, after curfew, and we're going to put these all over the castle. Under doors, stuck to walls - wherever the hell you want to put them, really. There'll be so many of these that the Carrows and Snape won't be able to get them all. They'll make their way to students. It'll give them hope, I guess, especially the younger years. So many of them are completely terrified of what's going on. They'll be glad to know somebody's still fighting."

"Are we all going out and doing this?" Susan Bones looked nervous but determined. "And is it all going to be on the same night?"

Neville shrugged. "Nobody's going to be forced to sneak out. I don't want to pressure any of you into doing something like this. But there's no limit on how many of you want to - the more the better, in fact. But yeah, same night - that way they're all over the place the following morning." He paused, thinking, and then quickly broke into mutterings with Ginny and Luna that Morag couldn't hear from where she was standing. After about a minute or so, he turned to face the assembled D.A. again. "If you want to participate, be here at the Room of Requirement one week from today - that's November twenty-eighth, people - at three o'clock in the morning. But for now, it's getting late."

The first few people, including Morag, hurried out. As she made her way back to Ravenclaw Tower, careful as always, she couldn't help thinking about the D.A.'s first mission. She had wanted to do something since last month, and her little distraction of Snape didn't totally satisfy her (although telling him that she thought the Carrows couldn't write _was_ satisfying). This was, really, a perfect opportunity. She'd be stupid not to take it.

Her mind made up, she smiled to herself. Finally, this was what she had been waiting for.

* * *

One week later, Morag found herself waking up at two-thirty in the morning. She had decided to leave earlier than necessary; although it wasn't a half hour walk, she wanted extra time in case she needed to take a longer route to avoid patrollers. She changed into regular clothes and put shoes on, and glanced around the dormitory. Padma was already gone; she could hear footfalls going down the stairs, in fact. Su was stirring. Morag went over and lightly shook her friend's shoulder. "You going?"

"Yeah," Su mumbled, "but it's so early." She rolled out of bed, sighing. "You go ahead, I'll be a little while. Is Mandy..." She let the sentence trail off.

"Doubt it," Morag answered. It was strange enough to her that Mandy was even in the D.A.. For her to go out and purposely make trouble for people - even people like Snape and the Carrows - and risk getting detention...well, that would be out of this world. "I'll see you there, then," she said to Su, who was rummaging in a drawer for clothes. Morag slipped out, padding down the stairs as silently as possible. The Ravenclaw common room was completely empty at this time, which allowed her to leave without being questioned by anybody at all as to where she was going.

It turned out to be a good thing that she had left early. More than once she had to sneak down side corridors and double back in order to avoid the people patrolling. As far as she could tell, most of the students patrolling were Slytherins, and then there were teachers as well. Apparently the Carrows didn't trust the other three houses to patrol properly. That didn't surprise her - it was, after all, people from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw who were making all the trouble. As far as Morag knew, not a single Slytherin - at least in her year - had gotten detention yet.

By the time she finally arrived at the Room of Requirement, it was ten minutes before three o'clock. Padma was already there, as were Neville, Ginny, and Luna, and in the next fifteen minutes more and more people trickled in. Several people were missing - Mandy and Michael were the two from Ravenclaw who weren't there - but on the whole, a majority of the D.A. had decided to come.

The Room of Requirement didn't look like it usually did for the D.A. meetings. Instead of a huge, cavernous space with cushions (for people being Stunned to fall back on), dummies to practice on, and many books on defending against the Dark Arts, it was a simple, smaller room with no furniture except for one sturdy table. On this table, there was hundreds of the D.A.'s fliers that Neville had talked about at the last meeting. Morag picked one up and quickly read over it.

_We are the D.A., and we are still recruiting. We are still fighting. We don't like Hogwarts's new rules, or these new punishments that the Carrows have implemented. We don't like how a murderer has been appointed Headmaster. We don't like how Muggle-borns aren't allowed to come to Hogwarts anymore. We don't like how students are terrified to even put the tiniest toe out of line. We think that all of this is terribly wrong. We want to do something about it. Dumbledore's Army!_

It was perfect. Even though it was short, Morag thought it was exactly the message they were trying to send. This was absolutely right - they hated all of these things, and they did want to do something about it. Even the act of distributing these fliers was technically doing something about it.

"Okay," Neville said. "Each of you should take some of the fliers, and basically, just go around the school and put them wherever you want. You can stick them to walls or furniture, you can slide them under classroom doors, you can just throw them around in the corridors. It doesn't really matter. Try to spread them out just a little bit, so that we can reach as much of the school as we can. When you're done, go back to your common room - we aren't meeting up after this, it's much too risky." He gestured to the tables. "Go on, then."

The D.A. members converged on the table, each of them grabbing a decent amount - probably over a hundred per person. Some people had even more - one fifth year, Demelza's friend, was carrying a stack nearly nine inches high. They swarmed out the door of the Room in one motion, not like they usually did, but once they got out, they all scattered in different directions.

Morag wandered around, sticking the fliers to walls with a simple charm. She wished that she had learned how to do a Permanent Sticking Charm, which would have been even better, but this would do. She went inside a few classrooms and put them on seats and on desks, also, but she preferred staying in the corridors. It was way too easy to get trapped in a classroom, and she certainly wasn't begging for detention.

When she had about ten left, she headed to the area of the school where Amycus Carrow's classroom was. The seventh years had Dark Arts first thing this morning, and so they'd be sure to see it. She stuck all ten to the door, one next to the other, so that most of the door was plastered with pro-D.A. fliers. Grinning, she stood there and surveyed it for a moment by the light of her wand.

A noise inside the classroom shook her from her reverie, though, and she darted off, trying to be simultaneously silent and fast. She reached Ravenclaw Tower much more easily than she had left it, and as she answered the door-knocker's riddle she felt an overwhelming sense of relief. At least for her, the mission had been a success.


	11. Chapter 11

That morning, a few hours later, Morag and the other seventh-year Ravenclaws trooped down to breakfast together. Excitement was in the air; surely, their fliers had already been seen by someone patrolling. Morag wondered if anybody had been caught. Although she knew none of her fellow seventh-year Ravenclaws had, since they were all together at breakfast, it was impossible to tell whether anybody from a different house - or from a different year - was missing. There were simply so many people in the D.A. that keeping track of everyone was futile.

Before the food could even appear on the tables, Snape stood up. "It has come to my attention that very early this morning, fliers of a rebellious nature have been spread throughout the school building. Although Professor Carrow -" he gestured to Alecto, not Amycus, leaving Morag with a thrill of hope that Amycus's classroom door was still covered in D.A. fliers -"and some of our Slytherin students have been very helpful in destroying these fliers, we have not been able to destroy all of them."

"Good," Su muttered.

"If anybody is caught in possession of one of these fliers, they will automatically receive detention. If you see one of these fliers somewhere in the building, get rid of it; if you see a student who has one of these fliers, report them to either myself or either of the Professors Carrow." He surveyed the student body. As always, many of them were glaring up at him in open hatred, apart from the Slytherins. "If anybody knows anything about who spread these fliers around the building, report them to either myself or the Professors Carrow. If you are one of these people who spread the fliers - or if you know and you do not tell - and you are discovered, you will receive detention." He sat back down and the food appeared on the tables.

"Big surprise," Kevin mumbled. "Seems like whatever you do here, you end up with detention. Bet if I sneezed on one of the Carrows, I'd get detention."

The others chuckled. "I'm tempted to try," Su said thoughtfully, looking up at the staff table.

Padma raised her eyebrows. "Do you really want a repeat performance of last month?"

"You do it, then," Su said. "You haven't gotten detention yet - none of us have except for Kevin and I."

"Are we seriously discussing the prospect of _sneezing _on one of the Carrows?" Michael said disdainfully, devouring a bowl of cereal. "Oh, please. If we are going to do something to make trouble, let it be something worthy."

"Michael's right," Morag contributed. "We shouldn't get detention for something stupid. If I'm going to get in trouble, I want it to be absolutely brilliant."

"Got any ideas?" Anthony said dryly, and for a little while, the Ravenclaws were silent. Morag could hear a couple nearby first years discussing the prospect of someone planting a flier on one of them, and whether they'd be able to talk their way out of getting detention. It was somewhat sad to see eleven-year-olds talking about whether or not they could escape getting put under the Cruciatus Curse, and Morag groaned.

"This year really sucks," she said as explanation when a few heads turned her way. "It really, really does."

* * *

After breakfast, the same group of seventh years made their way to Amycus Carrow's classroom; Morag was thrilled to see that the fliers were still there. The whole class was gathered around the door. Lavender Brown pushed past the others and tried to open the door, but to no avail. It was locked. "Weird," she said, "the door's never locked."

Morag wished she could explain that she had heard a noise in there the previous night. It was certainly plausible that the noise was a person in there, and that after Morag had left, the unknown person had come out and locked the door behind them. She couldn't say that, though - explaining would mean revealing that she had been out putting fliers up, and there were Slytherins around as well. If it was only the D.A., she could have.

Before anything else could happen, though, Amycus Carrow came waddling up to where they were all gathered. He shoved through the crowd, much more roughly than Lavender had, and stared at the door. He leaned close, reading one of the fliers - which, Morag noted, took him a while - and then unlocked the door with a wave of his wand, yanking it open. "Get in," he said harshly, and they scurried inside to their seats. A moment after they had all sat down, Carrow came in, the door banging shut behind him. "Had to Vanish those fliers," he explained, his beady eyes sweeping around the classroom as if one of them had the mark of guilt written on his or her forehead. His gaze then turned to the blackboard, and he cursed loudly.

"Thought professors weren't supposed to say that word," Michael whispered to Morag.

"They're supposed to set a good example," Morag replied quietly, a smirk making its way across her face. The blackboard had a picture of both Carrows laying down. Their tongues were sticking out and their eyes had been replaced by 'X's. It was obvious to all that the drawing was of the Carrows, dead. On the other side of the blackboard, a crowd of students - all faceless - were cheering. Some had their arms up in the air, others were hugging each other, and two were touching drink glasses to each other's. At the bottom was the looping signature of 'The Secret Enemy'.

"You think this is the best one yet?" Michael murmured.

"Yeah," Morag replied. She knew now what she had heard the previous night in this classroom. The Secret Enemy had been in here the same time that Morag had been sticking the fliers to the door; they had almost run into one another. It had been the Secret Enemy that locked the door behind him or her. She wished that she had seen the person. Now, more than ever, she was curious about the person's identity. Would she ever actually find that out? Would anyone ever know?

Morag was wondering about the Secret Enemy through most of class, although she snapped back to attention when Professor Carrow started calling students up to his desk. He had kept the practice of making students perform a curse right in front of him, and as a result even the D.A. members had found themselves forced to - and able to - perform a weak Imperius Curse on their respective animals.

She couldn't help but notice when Crabbe and Goyle - two incredibly stupid Slytherins - went up, that they were scarily good at the Cruciatus Curse. It hurt to watch, in a way, for Goyle's mouse and Crabbe's frog were obviously in intense amounts of pain. Morag's mind bounced back and forth between 'Thank Merlin that's not me' and 'That poor animal'. After all the students had gone up, and they were shouldering their book bags to go to the next class, Carrow's call stopped them. "Don' go yet," he said, his eyes flicking to each student in turn, obviously searching for the ones he wanted. "Crabbe. Goyle. Parkinson. Nott. All o' ya, stay here. The rest o' ya can leave."

"Wonder why he wants them," Morag said to Michael as they headed out before anybody else. Being in the back row, they were some of the students closest to the door.

Michael shrugged. "Probably to offer them a place as Death Eaters or something like that. All four are pretty decent at the Cruciatus Curse."

"Parkinson and Nott, too?"

"Yeah," Michael answered. "Not as good as the brainless lumps, but their curses are 'satisfactory'." He made air quotes around the word. "It's not like they'd be in trouble - they're all Slytherins. Everyone knows that they're all favored by the Carrows - they can do no wrong, apparently."

It certainly seemed that way. Morag hadn't heard of a single Slytherin getting detention so far. Although the Slytherins had usually been pretty good at avoiding detention - being cunning, sneaky, and sly helped if someone was going to get away with breaking rules - it was certainly a rarity for the whole house to go almost three whole months without any detentions at all. The D.A. knew that none of them had; both Carrows kept a list of rule-breakers in their classroom desk drawers, and some of the fifth years often sneaked into there and looked at the list. All of the troublemakers were Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws.

On the way to their next class, Morag saw a flier change hands between two Gryffindors that looked to be third years or fourth years. Later on in the day, she saw one peeking out the top of a Hufflepuff first year's bag. That time, she stopped the kid (when did they get so short? Or rather, when did she get so tall?) and told him that it should go further down in his book bag. He thanked her enthusiastically - so much so that she had to tell him to shut up because he was attracting attention.

The fliers continued changing hands for the next week. The D.A. members didn't have anything to do with it; after all, they had already seen the fliers. Among the younger students, though, and the few older students who weren't D.A. members, they were being spread around like wildfire. Everybody wanted to see the fliers - and everybody knew that it was safe as long as there was no Slytherins or professors around. There were students talking about them in muttered tones; there were students passing them around whenever they thought they were being subtle.

It dropped off after a week. At that point, everybody who had wanted to read them had gotten a hold of one, it seemed. The conversation about the fliers didn't stop, however, and as they entered December it seemed the D.A. had supporters all around the school. The younger years looked up to them, and the few fifth, sixth, and seventh years who weren't members (or Slytherins) admired them for being so brave.

Morag couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. They had gotten away with it. They hadn't gotten caught. Sure, the Carrows and Snape suspected almost everybody who wasn't in Slytherin, but they didn't have proof. At least for now, they were safe. She couldn't help but feel, though, like that was about to change.

* * *

**This chapter was really easy to write, actually, which is awesome. Anyway, thanks for reading! **


	12. Chapter 12

"So are you all going home over Christmas break?" Padma looked curiously around at the seven other Ravenclaws. They had found a relatively-secluded corner of the common room and claimed it as their own, sprawling out over the chairs that were already there and pulling a few more over as needed. Nobody came to disturb them; few of the younger students, after all, would dare to come up and bother the oldest students at the school.

"Of course," Michael said. "It would be mad to stay here with the Carrows. That'd be like asking for detention." The others, including Morag, nodded and murmured affirmations of his statement. No one was staying. Morag didn't love the idea of going home, either - Christmas wasn't the best time at her house. Her parents usually remembered enough to buy Katrina and her a couple books each, but they didn't have Christmas dinner or open presents together. She had enjoyed, in previous years, staying here. She had gone home a few times, but staying was her preference.

Not this year. Awkward and silent as the MacDougal house usually was, at least there was absolutely no chance of getting tortured for misbehaving. She'd take her house over the Carrows any day - hell, she'd take Umbridge's Hogwarts over the Carrows any day. Morag couldn't even begin to put into words how base and wrong it was for them to do what they had been doing the past few months. She wanted to do something, and she was still trying to formulate a plan - but nothing was coming together.

* * *

A couple of days after the Ravenclaws had discussed Christmas vacation, Morag met up with Kevin in the library. It was a completely random happening; she was headed into the Restricted Section for a book, and he was coming out. It was at that point that the beginnings of an idea formed in her mind, and she pulled Kevin to the side. "Do you still have that box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" she whispered, looking in all directions to make sure no one was in earshot. He nodded in response, and she continued, "Can we do something with them?"

He looked at her, a surprised expression on his face. Morag could understand his shock. She wasn't the daring, bold one like him or Su; she was the Ravenclaw who stayed out of things and tried to stay neutral. He had probably expected her to go the whole year without getting a detention like she had under Umbridge's rule, but she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to bother the Carrows; she wanted to fight back and show them what they were doing was unjust and terrible. To do that, she had to do something rebellious and troublesome - and who knew 'rebellious' and 'troublesome' better than Kevin?

"Gladly," he answered, "but let's not discuss this here. Come on." He gestured for them to leave, and Morag relented. Her book could wait; this was much more important. This was thrilling and exciting. She could feel her heart beating in her chest faster than usual, and she followed him out anxiously, looking around again in a way that was simultaneously nervous and eager. They darted into the nearest classroom, and he shut the door, leaning against it. "So what, exactly, did you want to do?"

She shrugged. "I don't totally know. That's why I came to you - you're the troublemaker. I figured you'd have some ideas."

He chuckled. "I'm sure I could come up with a few things. What were you looking for?"

"I..." Morag paused. What was she actually looking for? "I kind of want to show them that someone is still fighting. I want to do something like what you and Su did - I want to make a stand. I don't want to hide in the shadows."

Kevin's eyes widened. "You mean, you actually want to get a detention?"

"It's not like I want to get detention. But I want to show them someone's fighting, and I can't do that without being open about it. So yeah, I guess whatever I'm doing will definitely earn me a detention."

"Wow," he replied, shaking his head. "Is this seriously the same person who never spoke out against Umbridge unless we were in the safety of the dorm or a corner of the common room? Is this the same person who hesitated joining the D.A.?" He narrowed his eyes at Morag. "You under Polyjuice or something?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Are you going to help me, or not? I could always ask Su."

"No, I'll help you. Just give me a day or two to think on it, all right?"

"Of course."

* * *

By the time Kevin finally approached Morag with a plan, it was five days before the end of term. "Took you long enough," she said as he led her up to the boys' dormitory and, just as before, shut the door behind him. "So do you finally have some sort of plan?"

"Yeah. Sort of." He sighed. "Except, er, Michael got himself involved as well. Because it was his idea, actually, and then he said that it was the sort of brilliant idea that he actually would get detention for."

"The fact that Michael called his own idea brilliant doesn't surprise me," Morag said just as Michael popped up from the other side of the room, where he had been rummaging under the bed. "Hello, Michael."

"Kevin was just about to tell you about my excellent idea," Michael said. "Except since it's my idea, Entwhistle, I should tell her." Kevin shrugged in response, and Michael sat down, patting the spot next to him for Morag. She sat down, watching him as he said, "Remember at the end of our fifth year? When the Weasley twins flew out of Hogwarts?" He waited for her answering nod before continuing. "My plan was that we each take a broom and basically fly through the castle as long as we can, setting off some fireworks and maybe yelling some things as we do it."

The plan was mad. It was crazy and insane and dangerous and risky. Yet it was also exciting, thrilling, oh-so-Gryffindor, and just the sort of thing Morag wanted. The very thought of it sent a nervous thrill through her body. "We do it tomorrow," she said. "That way, the Carrows only have four days to punish us before we're let go for Christmas break. They might start up again after, but at least we'll have a bit of a break."

Michael nodded. "Exactly. Anyway, by the time we get back from holidays, they might have moved on to something else. You know their long-term memory might not last that long." Both Morag and Kevin laughed. Carrow=stupid jokes were now a common fare among the D.A. members. As Kevin left, walking funny and muttering something about the loo, Michael turned to Morag, his expression deadly serious. "Are you sure about this?" he said quietly, putting a hand on hers. "We're going to get detention for this, and you know what that entails. No one's forcing you to rebel against them, Morag."

"I know," she answered. "But it just feels...right. Like it's something I have to do. I can't just stand by anymore and watch them do this. I need to do something, and this is an opportunity for me to do that. I really want to."

"All right," he replied. "I just wanted to make sure. I mean, the prospect of you doing something like this...it's just not exactly _you, _you know?"

"This has changed us all," Morag responded gravely. "It really has."

* * *

The next day, Morag and Michael left Herbology as soon as they could. Barely after Professor Sprout had dismissed the class, they had left, running over the slippery ground to the broom shed. Both were in pretty good physical shape, and as a result they reached the broom shed within seconds of one another, dashing inside and grabbing hold of their brooms. Although Morag never played Quidditch as more than a recreational sport among her and her friends, she still had a broom - a Nimbus '99. It wasn't anything comparable to some of the newer models, but it was decent enough.

"Got the fireworks?" Morag mumbled as they made their way up to the castle, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible - not an easy thing while carrying broomsticks.

"Yeah." He passed her some, which she stowed away under her cloak. They reached the Entrance Hall and exchanged a glance, nodding. This was it. It was now or never; there was no backing out at this point. Stepping inside, both kicked off from the ground and flew over the crowd of students, most of whom were watching. It was a very rare occasion when people flew brooms inside. It just wasn't done, namely because it was grounds for detention - even before the Carrows had come to Hogwarts, inside flying meant detention.

Michael, the more experienced flyer, swooped lower over the students, causing many to duck and gasp. Morag tossed the fireworks out of her pocket and ignited them in midair, dodging around the ensuing designs created. Michael did the same a couple of seconds later, and the two Ravenclaws commenced flying in and out of the designs, doing as many tricks as each could manage. It was just as thrilling as Morag had expected. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She was executing tricks that she had never tried before, flying around almost as well as Michael.

The fireworks joined together to form the words 'Carrows Suck', which made almost the whole student population in the Entrance Hall burst out into laughter. Morag caught a nervous look from Padma, down below, and Su cheering the two of them on, but within seconds, her focus shifted as two people came onto the scene. The two people, who, according to the fireworks, sucked.

Alecto and Amycus Carrow.

The looks on their faces were identical, showcasing the resemblance between the two more than ever. "Are ya gonna come down, or we gonna make you?" Amycus snarled up at them, brandishing his wand. Morag and Michael exchanged a look before landing; there was no way they wanted any sort of magic put on them when they were several feet up in the air. "Tha's detention, for both o' ya," he said almost proudly. "C'mon, you'll serve your first detention now." The Carrows stood on either side of Morag and Michael and escorted them out.

Morag walked, her head held high. She wasn't looking forward to what came next - but at least it hadn't been for nothing. She remembered the students watching them, remembered Su cheering her, and couldn't help but think that some things were worth it.


	13. Chapter 13

The Carrows marched Michael and Morag down to the dungeons. The last classes of the day had just let out, which meant that many students were in the corridors. They were met with various looks from the students - some encouraging, some annoyed, some nervous - as they walked the path to the dungeons. It seemed to take much less time than it actually did, Morag thought; it must have been scared anticipation for what was going to happen next. In no time at all, they had reached the dungeons. "Give me your wands," Alecto said, "now." She held out her hand.

Reluctantly, Morag and Michael placed their wands in Alecto Carrow's hand. She stuck the wands in her pocket and turned to Amycus. "What're we gonna do? Should we get Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Nah," Amycus replied. "Let 'em do the others' detentions. These two did somethin' major, they should be punished by us. You take the girl, I'll take him." He grabbed Michael and pulled him into the nearest dungeon; Alecto did the same to Morag.

"Well, well, well," Alecto said. "Look at ya, standin' there all proud, like ya didn't do anything wrong. Well, now you'll see what happens to people who do things wrong." She raised her wand and brought it slashing down. "Crucio!"

Morag collapsed to the ground, unable to prevent herself from crying out as the curse swept through her. The pain was intense and white-hot, impossible to fully describe, impossible to compare to anything else. She couldn't fathom how the Carrows could justify doing this to students simply because of detention-causing misbehavior; this was much more than punishment. This was torture, absolute torture. She writhed on the floor, her body flailing about in a vain attempt to throw off the curse.

She couldn't think of anything but the agony ravaging her body. In that moment, it didn't matter that Michael was going through the same exact thing. It didn't matter that the floor was freezing cold. It didn't matter that she had chosen to rebel against the Carrows and show them someone was still fighting. No, in that time under Alecto Carrow's curse, nothing else could make its way into Morag's mind.

It felt like an eternity before Alecto lifted the curse. It was impossible to tell how much time had truly passed; every second felt like a minute. Morag pushed herself up to a sitting position, and Alecto leered at her. "Ya might not wanna bother getting up," the professor said. "It's not like you're done."

Morag swore under her breath just as Alecto once again hit her with the Cruciatus Curse. It was just as painful, just as agonizing, as it had been the first time. This was definitely not something that a person could get used to. No one could be accustomed to this, no matter how many times they were tortured. This curse was beyond words, beyond the normal realm of pain. Alecto held it longer this time, but again had to stop; apparently she couldn't hold the curse for much longer than that, which was probably a good thing.

This was repeated two more times before finally, Alecto tossed Morag's wand back to her and left. Morag could hear another door opening right near them; she assumed that was Alecto bringing Michael's wand back to him. She groaned. Her whole body was sore and achy, an effect from prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. She barely even wanted to move; it would probably be easier just to lay here than to make the trip up several flights of stairs to Ravenclaw Tower.

She forced herself to stand upright, which wasn't an easy task. Her legs were wobbly, and black spots danced before her eyes. She leaned against the wall until the dizziness faded away, and then stumbled out into the hallway, wincing with every step that she took. Grasping her wand tightly in her hand, she peered into the room next to her. Michael had just gotten up, and he looked relieved to see Morag. "You're all right?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Morag shrugged. "I'm alive, at least." Her voice was raspy as well, a result from the screaming she had just done while under the curse. "You?"

"Been better." Michael leaned on the doorframe. "How the hell are we going to get up to Ravenclaw Tower?"

"Walk, like normal people," a passing Slytherin said, his tone snarky. Morag's wand hand twitched, and a few hexes rose to the forefront of her mind, but she refrained from doing anything to the Slytherin as he walked away from them.

"Kevin and Su made it back up to the tower," Morag pointed out as they started walking. It was slow going; the residual soreness prevented them from moving particularly fast, and each step caused aches. She couldn't wait to sit down or lay down. "I guess we can too."

"Yeah, I suppose," Michael responded, sighing. "And to think, we wanted to do this."

"Don't remind me." She knew, also, that this wasn't over. Kevin and Su had detention for a few days after their fireworks incident, and Morag could assume the same would hold true for her and Michael. It wasn't an appealing prospect. She definitely wasn't looking forward to going through this for a few more days, and possibly again after Christmas holidays. But they had done it for a reason; they had showed the Carrows that people were still fighting against them. That, at least, was satisfying.

By the time Morag reached Ravenclaw Tower, Michael by her side, she was exhausted. Every step she took caused the lingering aches to flare up, and all she wanted to do was find somewhere to rest. She was thankful that the riddle wasn't difficult, and Michael answered it quickly; they stumbled into Ravenclaw Tower and up to the dormitories, leaning on one another. Morag went into the boys' dormitory with Michael, figuring that the others might already be there. She was right.

"Oh, Merlin, are you okay?" Padma said. "That was some stunt the two of you pulled."

"It was brilliant," Su laughed, but her expression quickly turned serious. "You two don't look so hot."

"Sorry for not looking my best after being tortured for who-knows-how-long," Michael snapped, half-sitting, half-falling onto his bed. Morag sat down next to him, pulling her legs up and leaning back. It felt good to lay down.

"Are you all right?" Padma repeated.

Michael looked as though he had another snarky comment, but Morag hastily spoke. "As all right as we could be, I suppose. Just tired."

"Do you have detention again?" Mandy's question was quiet, but audible, and all heads turned in her direction.

"They didn't say," Morag explained, "but it's probably likely. I mean, you two had it for a few days." She gestured to Kevin and Su. "Probably until the holidays, at least."

"Do you think they'll make you stay at Hogwarts over the holidays?" Terry asked, wrinkling his forehead. "I'm sure they've got the power to do that."

"They probably could. I don't think they would, though," Michael answered. "Might be a bit suspicious - I already told my parents that I'm coming home. I don't know if the Carrows want it too obvious what they're doing to the students, so they should let us go home. Any of you telling your parents about what's going on here?"

The others murmured negative responses, Morag among them. She hadn't even considered confiding in her parents. In the off-chance that they were actually home long enough to have a serious conversation with her, she would still keep it secret. It's not like her parents would actually be able to do anything about it. Her parents probably wouldn't even try to do anything, if they knew; they'd be focused on keeping their reputation neutral, which meant not making waves. Sure, they might agree with Morag that the use of the Cruciatus as a punishment was unfair, but she doubted that it would extend much farther beyond that.

In the back of her mind, she wondered what Katrina would say about it. It was no secret that the sisters weren't close because of Katrina's bitterness over being a Squib. If Katrina found out that Morag was at a place where detention now equaled torture, would she actually care?

Her musings on that were interrupted by an owl tapping at the window. Su got up and opened it, letting the bird fly in and drop a letter on Michael's lap. Morag gasped. "Is that Lisa's owl?"

"I think so. Open the letter!" Su gasped, rushing over to stand beside Michael. The other Ravenclaws followed, gathering around the bed that Michael and Morag occupied.

_Dear Michael, Terry, Anthony, Kevin, Su, Morag, Padma, and Mandy,_

_I'm alive. I miss you all, of course, and I miss Hogwarts. I can't stay in the country any longer, it's much too risky for me. I'm leaving and going to the U.S., where the Death Eaters and Snatchers won't be able to find me. Maybe, if this ends at some point, I will return. I wish I could see you - it's the first time I've ever truly hated being Muggle-born._

_I was with Stephen. We made plans over the summer to stick together, simply because we trusted each other, and we did. We met up and we'd been avoiding the Snatchers since late August/early September. But yesterday - I suppose by the time you get this it'll be a few days ago - we ran into a group of Snatchers, which basically work for the Death Eaters. There was a struggle, and Stephen was killed. I got away because of his sacrifice._

_I thought that you all should know._

_Lisa _

"No," Mandy gasped. "Stephen's dead?"

"This is Lisa's owl, and it's certainly Lisa's handwriting," Morag said grimly. She couldn't imagine Stephen dead. Stephen - their Stephen - killed by Snatchers simply because of being Muggle-born. He had been an essential member of their group; the ten Ravenclaws had always been close since first year. It was bad enough that Lisa and Stephen had been forced to not attend Hogwarts this year, but Morag had taken relative comfort in the fact that the two of them would surely be able to stay away from Death Eaters and Snatchers.

A tear leaked down her face, and she furiously wiped it away. Stephen was dead, killed by the Death Eaters' little lackeys. Hatred rose up in her heart for all of them, and she felt even more determination to fight and do something. They wouldn't stand for this. At all.


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you all set?" Padma narrowed her eyes at Morag and Su. "I remember last year when you went home with each other's suitcases, and then both of you were complaining to me via letters over the whole holiday."

"That was last year," Su protested. "We're older and wiser."

Padma looked as though she had something to say to that, but she didn't speak, merely shaking her head instead. "Come on, you two. Mandy's already downstairs."

Padma left first, then Su, both carrying their trunks. Morag flicked her wand at her own trunk and it rose into the air, bobbing along beside her as she left the dormitory and went down the stairs. It was already time to leave Hogwarts for Christmas holidays, and Morag had never felt so relieved. The past few days, she and Michael had dealt with detentions from the Carrows. Last night, the Carrows had used another spell in addition to the Cruciatus - the same spell that had cut Su during her detention. Both Morag and Michael had been healed by Anthony on returning to the common room, but a couple angry pink scars still remained.

She couldn't stop thinking about Stephen's death, either. It filled her with rage every time it came to the forefront of her mind. How could people kill another person simply because of the other person's blood status? She couldn't understand it at all, and it made her want to fight back against the Death Eaters and the Snatchers more and more each time she thought about it. This scared her a little - she had always been so neutral, staying in the middle to avoid trouble, and now here she was, a D.A. member, getting detention for no real reason apart from bothering the Carrows. Oh, how she had changed...

Morag was glad once she and the others had reached the carriages that would take them to the Hogwarts Express. The repeated Cruciatus Curses over a few days had left her with a lingering soreness that wouldn't go away, and walking from Ravenclaw Tower all the way to the carriages aggravated it. She sank down into the seat, Michael beside her, both sighing within seconds of one another.

"Feels good to get out, huh?" Terry said quietly. He, Morag, Michael, and Su were sharing one carriage, while Mandy, Anthony, Kevin, and Padma had taken the other one. "At least we'll have over a week of normalcy."

* * *

The next morning, Morag woke up at eleven o'clock, her usual time for waking up when she was home. Stretching, she rolled out of her bed, relieved to see that the aches had mostly faded, and not only that, but she was in her own room and it was Christmas Eve. Terry's words from the previous day - over a week of normalcy - came back to her. Weird that being home was more normal than going to Hogwarts; usually, it was the other way around.

She went downstairs, not bothering to change into her robes quite yet. She really couldn't be bothered - it felt much too nice to be able to walk around in pajamas. Katrina was sitting at the table, reading the Daily Prophet, not even glancing up when Morag entered. "You're back," she said dully.

"Yeah." Morag paused at the counter, trying to decide whether to make herself breakfast or lunch, seeing as it was eleven already.

Katrina twisted around in her seat, probably intending to make some snarky remark about Morag's state of attire, messy hair, or the fact she had gotten out of bed at eleven. The second she saw Morag, though, her mouth dropped open. "God, what happened to you?"

Morag looked down at herself and realized what Katrina saw. The pajamas revealed what yesterday's robes had not, since they dipped down much further. Two scars - one on Morag's shoulder, another on her upper chest - were easily visible. She sighed, turning around and grabbing a pan from the cupboard. "Why do you care?" she asked, setting it on the counter.

Katrina looked insulted. "Um, because it looks like you got in a knife fight, that's why."

"I didn't get in a knife fight," Morag said, deciding that she didn't feel like cooking. Replacing the pan under the counter, she grabbed a bowl and poured herself cereal. "Thanks for your concern."

"Seriously, Morag." Katrina narrowed her eyes at her older sister. "What's going on at that school?"

"Who are you, my mum? And who gave you a personality transplant?" This wasn't like Katrina at all. Usually Katrina was abrasive and rude...although, Morag thought, it wasn't as though there had ever been anything serious, any opportunity where the sisters really had to feel concerned for one another. "Look, it's...nothing..."

Katrina rolled her eyes. "It's obviously not nothing. Is...did something change when that Snape bloke became headmaster?"

"Fine. Yeah, things have changed at Hogwarts. It's not really Snape the murdering bastard, it's the people who work underneath him."

"The...oh, damn, I remember the article saying that two new professors had been instated. The Cabots?"

"Carrows," Morag corrected. "They're Death Eaters. And they enjoy giving detentions to students."

Katrina's eyes flicked downward to Morag's scars. "They're - that's detention?" Her eyes bugged out. "But that's illegal, isn't it?"

She shrugged in response. "The Carrows do whatever they want, as long as they don't actually kill us. Trust me, this -" she gestured to the scars -"isn't the worst of it."

"You're serious? God, what else do they do?"

It felt strange to be talking about this, and even stranger to be talking about it with Katrina. Until this point, Morag had seen Katrina mostly as bitter over being a Squib, and rude to everyone because of her bad luck. It was weird to have her younger sister actually asking questions about her life, and being worried about what was going on at Hogwarts. "They..." Morag took a deep breath. "They enjoy doing the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detention. That's -"

"I know what it is," Katrina snapped, and for a moment the old Katrina was back. She shook her head, though, and the annoyed look disappeared, replaced by one of shock and horror. "They - that's absolutely evil," she stammered, her eyes even rounder than before. "They can't get away with that - we can tell Mum and Dad, and - "

Morag barked a harsh laugh. "Tell Mum and Dad? Please, Katrina. They wouldn't do anything about it, you know that. They'd get in trouble if they dared mention it at the Ministry, and there's absolutely no way that they'd risk their precious reputation or their all-too-important jobs." She looked at her sister, who looked even younger at that moment. She was only thirteen - older than some of the kids at Hogwarts who were getting tortured, but still young. She might still believe that their parents had the ability to fix everything.

"If everyone at Hogwarts, and the parents and siblings and stuff, protested..."

"If that happened, the Death Eaters would kill us all," Morag answered, her tone sharp. "There is literally nothing that can be done about what the Carrows are doing. All I can do is be glad that I'm a bloody seventh year, and so I only have to get to June before I can get out of there."

"Can't you stay home or something?"

"Attendance is mandatory for all half-blood and pureblood witches and wizards of Hogwarts age," Morag replied. "They'd try to track me down. And they'd probably succeed. You really think I could escape Death Eaters? Not to mention that they'd torture you, Mum, and Dad for my whereabouts if I did escape." She leaned back against the counter. "Look, Katrina. I've only got until June. I'll be fine - they'd never kill me or any of the others, because it's much too risky. Don't worry about me."

"What did you do?" Katrina said suddenly after a brief moment of silence. "To get detention, I mean."

"Er, I might have flown around on a broom in the Entrance Hall and exploded a firework that said 'Carrows Suck'."

Katrina grinned. "All right, I think this is the first time I've said this to you, and don't get used to it, but you're freaking brilliant."

"Not really my idea, but thank you." Morag smiled as well. "It was pretty amusing. And kind of fun - at least, until the Carrows came in and dragged us off."

"Us?"

"Michael Corner and I." Katrina waggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner that reminded Morag of Su. "Oh, shut up, you, absolutely nothing's going on."

"Yeah, but do you want something to be going on?"

"Katrina!" Morag rolled her eyes. "I don't want to date Michael. He's...ugh. Michael. A good friend, but that's it. What about you?" She glanced at the calendar. "Why is there a heart near 'study date at Will's'?"

She blushed. "That is absolutely none of your business, nosy."

"I'm your sister. It's pretty much my business to tease you about any blokes that you fancy, and then ask for details." Morag smirked. As weird as it felt to be bantering good-naturedly with Katrina, it was also kind of fun.

"He's a boy at my school, and I went over and studied at his house. And that was it."

"Really?"

"And he may have kissed me good-bye. Now please shut up." Morag chuckled at that, and Katrina smiled as well. Her expression turned serious pretty quickly, however. "Look...Morag...with all that's going on...while you're at school, you, well, can you write me?" She averted her eyes, looking a bit nervous. "I mean, yeah, it feels really weird to be saying this, but I'm kind of scared of what's going on at that school and I don't want...I don't want us to hate each other anymore, and you're off getting tortured for detention and I'm safe here and...I'm scared about the war because I'm completely defenseless, and I just...I don't know. I want to know that you're kind of safe," she finished.

"Sure. I'll write you." Morag crossed the kitchen and put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder. "And I can put up a couple protective charms around the house, if you'd like?"

Katrina nodded. "Thanks. I...you're a good sister, Morag."

"You are too," Morag responded, and to her surprise, she actually meant it.

* * *

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter - it was fun to explore the dynamic between Katrina and Morag at this point. I've had plans for Katrina's character development since the beginning, but I had to wait until Morag got home to fully explore them. I might write more for these two at some point, but I'm not sure.**

**Anyway, just one note: Yes, I'm aware that Luna was taken off the train at this point. However, in this story, the Death Eaters snuck on the train at Hogsmeade, and went through the train looking for Luna. Once they found her, they grabbed her and Apparated to Malfoy Manor directly; the train didn't stop, and they didn't go through all the compartments, which is why Morag and the others don't know about it at this point. They will know once they get back to Hogwarts.**


	15. Chapter 15

Usually, Christmas Day in the MacDougal home was not as special as it was for other families. Mr. and Mrs. MacDougal worked their normal eight am-to-eight pm shift, which left barely any time for them to be a family; Katrina and Morag didn't get up _that _early, and although the girls were more than willing to stay up much past eight o'clock at night, their parents went to bed almost as soon as they came in. Katrina and Morag were always home alone together for the whole day, and although their parents left presents for them to open, and their retired Muggle neighbor, Mrs. MacPherson, brought them a nice Christmas dinner, it just wasn't the same.

This particular Christmas morning, though, felt different from the start. Morag felt a hand shaking her shoulder, and she instantly sat bolt upright, scrambling for her wand. She was usually a heavy sleeper, but this year at Hogwarts her sleep had become mostly fitful and light. "Wha - Katrina? What are you doing?"

"It's ten-thirty," Katrina said impatiently, "and I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up or if you would just lay in bed all morning."

"I was planning on laying in bed all morning, thanks," Morag answered. "Why?"

"God, Morag, it's Christmas! Will you get out of bed so we can see what Mum and Dad got us?"

Morag raised her eyebrows. "Well, if you slept late like a normal teenager, you wouldn't be so impatient with me." She slid out of bed, deciding to pacify Katrina. "Come on, we can go look at our presents. Are you sure you're thirteen and not nine?" she teased, smirking when Katrina stuck out her tongue. It felt strange and completely new to be walking down into the living room with Katrina to open their presents. Usually, they just did it separately, considering Morag was a late sleeper and Katrina an early riser. On the rare occasions when Katrina and Morag had opened their presents at the same time, they had barely looked at one another, focusing instead on their own things.

There were two average-sized piles waiting for them in the living room, each on opposite sides of the couch. It didn't take long for the girls to unwrap and examine their gifts; within about fifteen minutes, they were surrounded by wrappings. Morag had received a few new quills, a new set of dress robes, five Galleons (with a note attached saying that she could spend them on whatever she wanted), a book of useful charms that weren't often taught at Hogwarts, like the Hair-Straightening Charm, a bottle of perfume, and two necklaces - one gold chain with a small heart dangling from the end, and a silver chain with a tiny eagle pendant.

Katrina's presents were similar, although hers were the Muggle versions of Morag's things - pens, a dress, twenty-five pounds, a novel that Katrina claimed was very popular, perfume, the same gold necklace as Morag, and another necklace with a 'K' on it. "What are you doing with the money?" Katrina asked Morag, as the latter waved her wand and Vanished the wrapping paper.

"I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow," she answered. "I need to buy presents for my friends, so I'll probably pick up something for myself as well. You?"

"I need to work on convincing Mrs. MacPherson to drive me downtown." Katrina tucked her money into her pocket and gathered up the rest of her things. "Although I might just -"

"Ask Will to take you instead?" Morag smirked. Teasing her sister was fun. "You could go on a date."

"You shut up," Katrina said. "We don't even have a phone, so I can't contact him over the break. There's absolutely no way I'm showing up at his house without invitation."

"I could take you downtown," Morag offered. "Drop you off there while I go to Diagon Alley, if you'd like."

"Uh-uh. No way. We are not, er, Apparating. Feels like you're being killed by a boa constrictor, and I don't particularly like that feeling."

"You get used to it." Morag managed to pick up all her things as well, and the two girls dropped them off in their rooms before meeting back in the living room. "But all right. Good luck with Mrs. MacPherson. Hopefully she doesn't keep you in the car for a while telling you about her knee problems."

"And her back problems, and her problems with her son, and her problems with her grandchildren." Katrina sighed. "She'll be over soon, won't she?"

"Yep."

* * *

Christmas holidays went very well, Morag thought several days later as she lugged her trunk through King's Cross Station. She and Katrina had gotten along quite well; there was the occasional quarrel, but that was natural for all sisterly relationships. They had such a different dynamic now; it was obvious even to their parents, who had been surprised but hadn't really commented on it. She had also managed to get to Diagon Alley the day after Christmas, like she had planned, to pick up presents for her friends. All in all, it went much better than usual, and Morag, for once, wasn't thrilled to be getting back on the Hogwarts Express.

She found her friends pretty easily. Padma, Su, and Mandy were in one of the last compartments on the train, all looking similarly sad about going back to Hogwarts. That, too, was such a change from the normal behavior, but it couldn't be helped.

"How was holidays?" Padma asked Morag, a sympathetic tone in her voice. "Was Katrina-"

"She was fine, actually. We came to an understanding."

Su's mouth dropped open. "Wait, Katrina wasn't bitchy?"

"No, she wasn't. I had a good Christmas, surprisingly. Had a better time at home than I do at Hogwarts, for once," she finished, her tone slightly bitter. "Merlin, I just hope the Carrows forgot about Michael and I over break. I don't fancy the idea of having more detention right now."

"Detention isn't the least of..." Padma let her sentence trail off as she got up and locked the door. "Detention isn't the least of the D.A.'s worries," she said quietly, so softly that Su, Mandy, and Morag had to lean forward in order to hear. "Parvati told me...well, on the ride home she was in a compartment with Lavender, Neville, Seamus, Ginny, and Luna. And Luna...Luna was taken off the train by Death Eaters. Apparently they got on at Hogsmeade and when they found her, they Apparated off."

"Luna Lovegood was kidnapped?" Su gasped. "But seriously, what would they want with her? I mean, yeah, she's a D.A. member, but so are the rest of us. Out of everyone, why would they pick her?"

"Parvati guessed that it's because of the Quibbler," Padma said.

"Wait, the Quibbler?" Morag wrinkled her forehead. "The magazine that prints a bunch of conspiracy theories and other weird shit that makes Luna sound halfway normal?"

"The Quibbler is Luna's father's magazine, Morag, you knew that. Well, it's been printing less weird...stuff..." Padma said, substituting a nicer word, since she was never one to swear as much as Su or Morag. "It's been printing a lot of things that support Harry. And the Death Eaters don't appreciate that, of course, because they want everyone to believe that Harry went off and deserted everyone and killed Dumbledore and is Undesirable Number One and all of that-"

"All of that shit," Su said helpfully.

"Thank you, Su. So Parvati said that they might have taken Luna for something like that. I don't know. Could be because she was pretty close with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, too - she was pretty friendly with them, I think. Maybe the Death Eaters want to draw the three of them from wherever they are."

"Shouldn't they have gone with Ginny, though?" Morag asked. "I mean, Ginny's Ron's sister, and she was Harry's girlfriend. Luna was close with them, but Ginny was closer."

Padma raised her eyebrows. "Ginny Weasley would put up the biggest fight imaginable. She wouldn't stop fighting no matter what, she would constantly try to escape, and she would give them as much trouble as she could. Luna would be more of the type to wait out the situation and see what was going to happen. Parvati said that Luna didn't even struggle much when they took her off the train."

"She should have just kneed them in the crotch," Su said. "Even a hardened Death Eater wouldn't be able to fight with squished -"

"Su!" Padma gave her a disapproving look.

"I was going to say 'squished male parts'," Su replied, an innocent look on her face.

"Anyway, Parvati and I got to talking about the D.A. some. We were thinking that what we're doing - practicing defensive spells and all of that - is brilliant, but that there should be a bit more offensive spells as well. I mean, if we do ever fight the Death Eaters, which is looking more and more possible, we're going to need a large amount of spells in our arsenals if we ever want to beat them. Parvati's going to bring it up to Neville tonight, she said."

"Brilliant," Su said. "When we're practicing, all we've got to do is visualize that it's the Carrows we're cursing, and we'll have absolutely no problems with whatever spell we're doing."

"And also," Mandy said, her tone just as quiet as Padma's had been, "I think we should, I don't know, exercise or something? I mean, if we're going to be fighting, we want to be in shape."

Morag nodded. "Also brilliant. We need every advantage we can get over the Death Eaters - they've been doing this a hell of a lot longer than we have." She took a deep breath. "You really think it's going to happen? That there's going to be some...I don't know, rebellion? Where we all rise up and attempt to kick their arses into Azkaban?"

Padma shrugged. "Personally, I think it's becoming more and more likely. We know Harry's still alive - if he wasn't, it would be paraded all over the place that the great Harry Potter, Undesirable Number One, has fallen. He's got to be doing something out there, because the Harry Potter that I've seen would never run away from something like this."

"The Harry Potter that I've seen is a reckless troublemaker who's in the middle of everything," Su said helpfully.

Morag nodded. "Exactly."

"And that's why he's doing something. He's going to bring down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at some point, and when he does, the rest of us need to be completely ready."


	16. Chapter 16

Life at Hogwarts resumed normally - or, well, like it had been before the Christmas holidays. The Carrows had apparently decided that Morag and Michael had been punished enough, and they did not receive any more detentions. It seemed as though every day, at least one of the D.A. members was getting in trouble, almost always on purpose, and almost always for minor offenses that would not have even warranted detention under fairer professors.

The D.A. was meeting more frequently. The meetings were still unpredictable; they did not follow any schedule, and were likely to meet on a Friday and Saturday one week, then on a Monday and Thursday the next. The members had developed a system of communicating, as well. Terry and Anthony had been able to perform the Protean Charm on a large amount of fake Galleons, which could spell out messages of fifteen letters or less, and would all heat up when the message on one was changed. It was very useful, considering that the members were spread across three houses and four years.

They had also started working harder at meetings. They exercised physically as well, usually under the guidelines of either Ernie Macmillan or Su. It was true that if they were going to fight Death Eaters at some point - which seemed to be more and more likely - they should be in shape, and not get tired out from running and dodging spells. Just as much as they prepared in that way, they also practiced as many offensive and defensive spells as they could manage, often engaging each other in mock duels. Slowly but surely, Morag could see herself and the others start to live up to their name. They weren't just a ragtag group of rebel students who hated the Carrows. They were - or they would be, after a bit more training - Dumbledore's Army.

* * *

The D.A. weren't the only people to change in January, though. Morag could see, as the month wore on, that a few other things were changing as well. In the seventh years' Dark Arts class, Amycus Carrow had changed things up. He had begun teaching one Unforgivable at a time, forcing all the students to first learn to perform the Imperius Curse on their frog or mouse, which didn't take long since all of the non-Slytherins had chosen that curse to practice with originally. Once he had seen that everyone was somewhat proficient at it, he moved on to making every single one of them practice the Cruciatus Curse.

It was there that he ran into some trouble. Although the Slytherins were divided into two camps - those who actually wanted to perform the curses and those who may not have wanted to but kept their mouths shut - the rest of the class was openly disgusted at having to perform the Cruciatus Curse. The Imperius Curse had been bad enough, but at least none of their animals had actually been harmed; most of the students had simply made the animals walk around their desks in funny patterns and maybe do a flip or two. But this...this was worse. They all knew it.

On the first day alone, six students were put into detention for completely refusing to do it. The rest - including Morag - acted as though they were doing the curse, but weren't even trying. Morag found it funny to watch some of them, considering that not all of the students were decent actors and actresses. Megan Jones, for instance - another girl who sat nearer the back of the class, where Carrow couldn't see her clearly - tended to completely forget what she was supposed to be doing (or pretending to do), and would stare off into space for several minutes at a time. Ernie Macmillan was little better, as he would say the incantation and have his wand pointed somewhere other than the animal, usually at the desk - or, in one memorable occurrence when Morag had to duck down because she was about to burst out laughing, his own foot.

There was another semi-important change besides the new seventh-year lesson plan. The Carrows had, it seemed, grown tired of the amount of people put in detention, and needed some help using the Cruciatus Curse on all of these troublemaking students. The teachers had all refused to participate. Morag overheard Professor McGonagall telling Neville, shortly after they returned to Hogwarts, that she would rather have them kill her before she used that curse on one of the students. Since none of the professors would assist the Carrows in torturing people, they had turned to the students.

There were some students - like Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and Nott - who actually did not mind using the Unforgivable Curses, and were some of the best in the class. They traded out with the Carrows as to who would do a particular detention; sometimes the Carrows actually wanted to torture a particular student (usually, an especially rebellious D.A. member), or sometimes, one of the detention-giving students would want a particular one. Morag wasn't surprised to hear about the four of them being the Carrows' lackeys; they were the type of people who gave Slytherin its evil reputation.

In addition, Morag had begun exchanging letters with Katrina. She wasn't used to writing anybody while at school; her parents generally preferred to send very short, generic notes that equated to 'Work hard, behave yourself, love you', and Morag's replies were equally brief. Katrina wrote longer letters that told of her own life, and Morag returned the favor so that the two girls were catching up on all the things that they had missed over the past several years. It felt good that she had made amends with her sister, even if it had taken a torture session to do it.

* * *

Morag had taken to reading Defense Against the Dark Arts books late into the night. Most of the time she couldn't fall asleep until midnight or later - D.A. meetings, which now went past eleven at night, disrupted everyone's sleeping schedules - and so she had decided to fill the time with something that could actually be useful. In order to not keep her roommates up, she would draw the curtains around her four-poster bed, light her wand, and read until she felt that she could sleep.

It was one of those nights when she was startled by someone pushing aside the curtains. Morag scrambled back instinctively, raising her wand so that the light shined in the intruder's face. Mandy - the intruder - shrunk back. "Merlin, Morag," she whispered. "It's only me."

"Sorry. What is it?" Morag was surprised. Although she counted Mandy as one of her friends, the other girl was very quiet. For her to actually seek Morag out like this was out of character for her. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Mandy replied, perching on the very edge of Morag's bed and looking as though she was about to fall off. "I...I just wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

"Are you and Michael...you know? Together?" She blushed as she spoke, not making eye contact.

"What, you fancy him?" Morag raised her eyebrows, and Mandy nodded. "I'm not dating him. We're just friends."

"Do you know if he fancies anybody?"

Her initial thought was 'yes, anybody with boobs and a skirt', but she decided to go for the slightly more sensitive route. "Not that I know of. I could ask him, though, if you want."

Mandy's face lit up. "Would you?"

"Sure. Tomorrow." Morag sighed to herself as Mandy, still smiling, returned to her own bed. Michael was notorious for going through lots of girls. It wasn't a made-up or exaggerated rumor, either; he honestly had a lot of girlfriends in his seventeen years of life. He also was the type who would openly stare at and admire other girls even when he had a girlfriend. He did not usually cheat, but he didn't mind breaking up with one girl for another that he hadn't even gone out with. Morag didn't want Mandy to be just another one of Michael's girls.

It was a strange thought, Mandy and Michael. There was no denying that. Mandy was shy and quiet, while Michael was, well, not. If Mandy had to end up with one of the other Ravenclaws in their year, Morag always imagined that it would be Anthony or Terry, who were more reserved than the others. That, at least, made more sense. _Of course_, she mused, _love doesn't always make sense_.

* * *

It took most of the next day for Morag to actually get Michael alone. Eventually, she grew tired of trying to seek him out, so she simply found him, grabbed his arm, and yanked him into the nearest empty classroom. Michael raised his eyebrows as she shut the door behind them, leaning on it so that he could not easily escape. "Are you trying to tell me something?" he asked.

"You're not my type. Who do you fancy, though?"

"Excuse me?"

"Simple question, Michael, requires a simple answer." Morag folded her arms and tapped her foot, letting him know that she was getting impatient with his lack of response.

He shrugged. "I'd be willing to try whoever is available, female, and fit."

"It isn't me, so stop staring at my boobs. No, seriously, you don't fancy anybody in particular?"

Michael shook his head, but continued, "I mean, I fantasize about -"

"I definitely do not need to think about you _fantasizing._" Morag rolled her eyes, making a face. "Fine, then. What do you think of Mandy?"

"Our Mandy? Mandy Brocklehurst?" Michael waited for Morag's answering nod. "Um, she doesn't talk too much. She's in the D.A. with us. She's got a Bat-Bogey hex to rival Ginny Weasley's. Er -"

"Merlin. Do I need to spell it out for you? Mandy fancies you. She told me last night, and I said that I would talk to you about it."

"Mandy?" A look of surprise was on his face, and he ran his hand through his dark hair. "Never would have expected that. I didn't...it's hard to think of Mandy fancying anyone, you know, since she never talks about things like that."

"Not everyone likes to participate in the discussions you and Kevin have of who's hot and who's not."

"Su does."

Morag sighed, rolling her eyes again. "That's because Su fancies girls, you know that, and also because she says whatever she's thinking. Now, can you please tell me whether or not you'll go out with Mandy? If it's a negative answer I need to let her know gently."

"I'll go on a date with Mandy," Michael said. "I'll ask her to go with me this Hogsmeade weekend. Hopefully she talks to me, though."

"Mandy talks," Morag said, "just not often. And I'm sure if she's actually on a date with you, she will. Oh, and Michael...don't..." Morag paused, letting her sentence trail off, not sure exactly what to say. "Just...try to ignore other girls while you're with her. Be a good date, you know? She's one of us, and I don't want this to make everything awkward."

"It wasn't awkward when Terry dated Padma last year, and they broke up, too."

"That's because they broke up mutually. They thought they were better off as friends. You have a habit of breaking up with girls simply because you saw someone that you thought was better-looking." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Promise?"

"Fine, I promise I won't break up with her because I saw someone who was attractive. Now can I please go? People are going to think that we're having sex in here."

"No, they won't," Morag said, a cheeky smile on her face. "We've been in here longer than two minutes."

"Morag!"

"See you later, Michael."


	17. Chapter 17

Michael and Mandy went to Hogsmeade the next weekend together, to the surprise of many - they were so different, it was hard for people to imagine how they could have started dating in the first place. Kevin also had a date, even though he claimed otherwise. He was going to Hogsmeade with Romilda Vane, a fifth year D.A. member. According to him, it was so they could discuss plans to get back at the Carrows, since Romilda had a supply of Wheezes products almost equal to his supply.

According to everyone else, it was a date.

The rest of the Ravenclaws - Padma, Morag, Su, Anthony, and Terry - went as a group, like they usually did. For Morag, Hogsmeade was no longer the special place it had been back in her third year; she had been so many times that it had lost a certain appeal. She probably wouldn't have gone as much this year if it hadn't been for the Carrows, who made Hogwarts feel so different. It was a relief to get out of the school, even if it was only for a short while.

Morag was pleased to note, after the Hogsmeade trip had ended and everyone returned to Hogwarts, that Michael and Mandy came in both looking happy. They were talking to one another in low tones, quiet enough so that anyone who wanted to eavesdrop had to be standing right next to the couple, and seemed completely immersed in one another. At least there was some light in these dark times, Morag thought. Maybe not much. But some.

* * *

Utterly exhausted, Morag crept out of the Room of Requirement. The D.A. had spent almost three hours working, and they had developed a new system, to train to the best of their ability. Half of the members would work on training physically - exercising and dodging spells - while the other half would practice as much offensive and defensive magic as they could, usually by dueling. The two groups would then switch back and forth. It made a lot of sense in theory, but it was incredibly tiring.

It always took a while after meetings before everyone could get back to their common rooms. They had decided in the beginning that three people would leave at once - one Gryffindor, one Hufflepuff, and one Ravenclaw. That way, they were going to three different places, in different directions - although Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Tower were both at the top of the castle, they weren't right next to one another - and would probably not get caught together. The system had been in place for months, and although it was logical, it meant that people were waiting in the Room of Requirement for ages. Each group of three was supposed to wait until the group before them had been gone for three minutes...ugh. Morag sighed quietly.

She had lost Ernie Macmillan and Demelza Robins, the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor who had left at the same time as her, almost instantly, and now she was on her own. Sneaking around at night for D.A. meetings had given Morag an even better knowledge of the castle's floor plan, considering all the times she'd had to double back and use shortcuts to avoid patrollers. She was almost used to being in the castle when it was pitch-black, almost used to finding her way around with only the slightest bit of light...

Morag froze where she was. Footsteps were steadily approaching, and she hurried towards where she knew there was a narrow corridor - but damn it, that was the corridor that only opened on Tuesday nights, and the entrance was a wall the rest of the time. Mentally cursing Hogwarts's strange walls, doors, and staircases, she tried to go a different way, but ran smack into the person she was trying to avoid.

The person's light flared on, and Morag could see who it was: Daphne Greengrass. She looked surprised, and her brow furrowed. "MacDougal? What are you doing out here?" she whispered. Not exactly the greeting Morag had imagined would occur if she had run into a Slytherin. She had always imagined it being more along the lines of 'Aha! Caught you!'. "It's past midnight," Daphne continued.

"Is it?" Morag glanced down at herself. She was still dressed in normal robes, and she wasn't near Ravenclaw Tower. There was really no explanation - no explanation she could give Daphne, at any rate - as to why she was out of bed hours past curfew, fully-clothed, and so far from her dormitory and common room. She was in for more detention, that was sure. "Look, I-" An idea came to her suddenly. "I was meeting someone." She ran a hand through her disheveled hair, suddenly glad for the slight sheen of sweat on her body and her pink, hot cheeks. Better for Daphne to think that she just had sex than for Daphne to know about the D.A.

"Yeah, I know. You were meeting basically all of the upper-year Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors." Daphne shook her head. "Do you really think that nobody knows? I mean, really, there's dozens of you sneaking out every other night, it seems - you think that nobody's caught on?"

"Huh? But there's only been a couple times where people got caught, and -"

Daphne sighed. "Really, MacDougal, I know that. But what you don't know is that whenever I'm patrolling, and I hear someone, I make a racket so that they've got a chance to get away, and if I'm patrolling with someone, they don't hear. And I'm not the only one who does that, either. Not all Slytherins are in love with the Carrows, you know."

"So wait...you're not going to turn me in? You're not going to report me?" A flicker of hope appeared in Morag's mind.

"No, I'm not going to report you. Come on. I'll escort you back to Ravenclaw Tower." The Slytherin took off at a brisk pace, and Morag caught up within a second.

"Thank you so much," she said. "I'll do anything you need -"

Daphne nodded. "It's no problem. I think...what the Carrows are doing...it needs to stop. Students shouldn't be Cruciated. And since I don't have the guts to actually fight back, I might as well do what I can. But don't tell anyone, even your friends from...whatever you all do when you sneak out at the same time. It's too easy for word to get out."

"I won't tell a soul," Morag promised. Daphne left her at the door of Ravenclaw Tower, and Morag couldn't help but feel elated. So Daphne wasn't as bad as the rest of them. Even if it was a secret - and even if she wasn't doing anything to directly trouble the Carrows - there were Slytherins on their side. Certainly not all of them - and certainly, the Slytherins wouldn't be as vocal as the rest of them - but they had allies. They had people who would protect them, and it was absolutely wonderful to know.

* * *

"Morag," Michael said urgently, "I need your help. Now."

"What?" Morag looked up from the book she was reading in the common room. "If you need advice on Mandy, I strongly suggest you talk to someone other than me. As in, someone who's been able to stay in a relationship for more than a month and a half."

Michael rolled his eyes, but the look on his face switched back to worried within a second. "No. It's not that. Kevin got himself detention, and he's been down there for a really long time. I reckon he can't get back up here without help or something - that he's really hurt."

Morag threw the book back in her bag and shoved it under a chair where no one would touch it. "All right. Let's go." She felt for her wand - still in her pocket, just in case - and followed Michael out of the common room, her heart beating quicker than normal. It wasn't a surprise that Kevin had detention again; with all those Wheezes products he had, not to mention his Gryffindor-like attitude in general...it was bound to happen at some point. "What did he do?"

"The Carrows were bringing Romilda Vane - you know, that fifth year he went to Hogsmeade with week before last - down to the dungeons, and they were being a little rough. He...got involved. And he, er, might just have tried a couple hexes on them..."

"Kevin is an idiot," Morag grumbled, "and he should have known better. That's something a Gryffindor would do. I can picture Ginny Weasley doing something like that, but Kevin should know better. And now, we're off to rescue said idiot from the idiotic situation he got himself into."

"Yeah, we are," Michael said. "So can you move any faster?"

"We can't run in the corridors, or we'd end up in the same situation as Kevin. Just walk quickly."

Finally, Michael and Morag reached the dungeons. "Why me, anyway?" Morag whispered as they crept through, peering into each room they passed to see if Kevin was inside.

"You were the first person I found," he answered, and then drew in a sharp intake of breath. "Look." He pulled Morag over to where he was standing, looking through the cracked-open door. A figure, instantly recognizable as Kevin, was laying inside, motionless except for the rising and falling of his chest. Michael pushed the door open, and the two Ravenclaws snuck inside, looking at Kevin's prone figure. There were a couple slashes from the Carrows' unknown Dark curse on his chest, but he didn't look seriously injured. "He's probably just unconscious," Michael whispered. "What do we do - we wake him, or?"

Morag shrugged. "Anthony's the Healer-in-training, not me."

"Do Rennervate, will you? I left my wand in my dormitory."

"You're the idiot now, not Kevin," Morag muttered, pulling out her wand and pointing it at Kevin's chest. "_Rennervate._"

Kevin jolted slightly, and his eyes opened. "I was in the middle of a nice nap, thank you very much. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your frowny face?"

"My face is not frowny." Morag tucked her wand away. "And how are you doing today?"

"I've been better." Kevin groaned as he tried to push himself up and failed. "Can a bloke have a little help here?"

"That's why we're here," Morag said, helping Michael to pull Kevin to his feet. He wobbled on doing so, and threw one arm around Morag and the other around Michael. "I heard about the fact that you tried to interfere with Romilda's detention. By hexing the Carrows."

"I got 'em good, too," Kevin said proudly.

"Yeah, and then they got you good. Come on, you think you're a Gryffindor or something?" Michael sighed. "Defending the honor of your lover?"

"Romilda is not my lover. And can you two please stop walking at full speed? I was Cruciated for...I don't know, longer than a person should be Cruciated for." Kevin winced. "Getting up to Ravenclaw Tower isn't going to be fun."

"I know the feeling," Morag and Michael said within seconds of one another. The trio did, after some time - and several curious looks in the corridors - reach Ravenclaw Tower, at which point they found Anthony. He healed Kevin's cuts, and Kevin dropped off for another nap while Morag, Michael, and Anthony stayed in the boys' dormitory, talking.

It was crazy what had just happened. The whole school year, Morag thought, was crazy, and she looked forward to the end.


	18. Chapter 18

"I think," Mandy said idly one night, when the seventh-year Ravenclaws were lounging in the common room, "that we should make something, to...I dunno, remember us by. My mum told me about this Muggle tradition where people put letters and items in a box and bury it for a while, and then years later, everyone digs it up. What if we did something like that?" She blushed - everyone was staring at her, since she usually didn't have that much to say with anybody but Michael, now.

"It's not a bad idea," Padma answered thoughtfully. "I mean, with everything that's going on...it would be nice to have some informal record of what's going on this year and what we were like."

"I have no plans on dying anytime soon," Morag said, "but I guess I'll do it." She reached to the table nearby, where some third years had recently been sitting before going upstairs to bed. They had left several blank pieces of parchment, and it was these that Morag grabbed, passing them out to each seventh year. "Here. We can write on these."

Padma, always prepared, grabbed a set of spare quills and tiny inkstands from her bag, distributing these as well. For a little while there was no sound but that of quills scratching on parchment, and Morag paused, thinking. What did she want to put? It wasn't like there was anything particularly intriguing about her, apart from her D.A. membership, and it took a few moments before she finally came up with something and touched her quill to the parchment.

_Future readers,_

_My name is Morag Alyssa MacDougal. I'm a seventh-year Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, and the date is February 1st, 1998. Right now these two arses called the Carrows - Death Eaters of course - are basically in control of Hogwarts. It isn't pleasant, trust me. I'm in a group called the D.A., which stands for Dumbledore's Army. It was originally founded by Harry Potter, but he's not here anymore. Off doing who-knows-what. He'll probably come back in June and defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - after all, something huge has happened at the end of the school year for the past six freaking years. Anyway, I think if Harry does defeat him...I think I'll become an Auror. It would be nice to be able to arrest people like the arses - I mean, the Carrows. Of course, if the Death Eaters are completely in control, I'm leaving the country and you'll probably never hear my name again. _

_But hopefully that's not the case._

_Morag MacDougal_

She signed her name with a flourish and looked up at the others. Within a few minutes, they all had finished, and they slowly exchanged the pieces of parchment so they could all read what the others had written. There were some similarities, but there were also some differences.

_I'm Michael Corner. Um, I really don't know what to put. So I guess I'll list all the awesome, hot girls that I've been able to date (because girls love me, obviously):_

_Morag MacDougal, Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Katie Bell, Victoria Frobisher, and my lovely current girlfriend, Mandy Brocklehurst. Hmm...eight...that's pretty good for a bloke who's barely eighteen, don't you think? Maybe my name will go down in history as the Bloke Girls Couldn't Get Enough Of. _

_Morag and Su say that I'm arrogant. I have no idea what they're talking about._

_Michael Corner (the Bloke Girls Couldn't Get Enough Of)_

Morag had a sneaking suspicion that he was mostly serious about what he had written. "You are arrogant, Corner," she muttered to him, rolling her eyes. He had no response.

_My name is Padma Lakshmi Patil. The date is February the first, 1998, at ten-thirty-nine in the evening. I am eighteen years old, and a seventh-year student in the Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Normally I love going to Hogwarts - my sister and I are the first in my family to go, since our older relatives all went to an Indian school of magic - but this year is different. Severus Snape, who murdered Professor Albus Dumbledore, is Headmaster of Hogwarts, and these two Death Eaters (Alecto and Amycus Carrow are their names, although Morag and Su have several other names for them that aren't very polite) are in charge of discipline. They use the Cruciatus Curse far too much. I, and several other students, aren't supporting them. We've re-formed Dumbledore's Army, which was originally in existence to protest Dolores Umbridge, another horrible professor. Now, it's to protest the Carrows, and we're practicing as much as we can in case we need to fight Death Eaters at some point, which will probably happen. If it does, and I don't survive, now there's a record of who I am._

_And for the record, Morag and Su are right. The Carrows are idiots._

_Sincerely, Padma Lakshmi Patil _

"Idiots is not the word I generally use," Morag said to Padma.

_All right, so I don't really like writing. I'm much more a Quidditch girl. But let me tell you one thing, future reader peoples. If the Carrows - Alecto the Arse and Amycus the Arsehole, that is - are still at Hogwarts (and I really hope they aren't because that would be far in the future and if they're still there I will literally rise up from the dead if I have to and get my revenge on them myself), I want to ask you one favor._

_Give them hell, please._

_Su Li_

That was very true, Morag thought, chuckling at Su's names for Alecto and Amycus Carrow. Very accurate. She looked over at Su, grinning, and Su shrugged, a slight smirk on her face as Morag turned to the next letter.

_I'm Anthony Goldstein. I'm a seventh year, and I want to be a Healer after I leave school. That is, if I get the opportunity to do that - there's always a chance that we might rebel against the Death Eaters and lose, and losing to the Death Eaters basically means not living any more. Which isn't exactly something that I want to happen, of course. But it's possible that we might end up fighting them, since we're in the D.A. - Dumbledore's Army - and we're training to fight them in our secret meetings_. _I'm close with the other Ravenclaws in my year - Padma, Morag, Su, Mandy, Terry, Michael, and Kevin. Up until this year, we also had two others, Lisa and Stephen, but since they're Muggle-born they couldn't be here. Stephen died in a struggle with Snatchers, allowing Lisa to escape. We won't let his name be forgotten, even if the Death Eaters want it to be. We won't let them win._

_Tony_

Kevin's took some time to understand, since he had written the whole thing backwards. That didn't surprise Morag - his reasoning behind it had probably been to annoy the others, which often seemed to be his mission in life. When she had finally deciphered it, though, it read:

_Kevin Entwhistle is my name. If you've managed to understand this message, congratulations. You're a true Ravenclaw - as in, you actually have some intelligence! Which, in this school, seems to be hard to come by. At least when it comes to two of our teachers - these idiotic DEs (Death Eaters, in case you're so far into the future, oh dear reader-y people, that it isn't completely obvious what DEs would stand for) called Alecto and Amycus Carrow, although those usually aren't the names I enjoy calling them in my head. _

_Speaking of, Padma would have my head if I did write down the names that I call the Carrows (hint: it starts with 'mother', then there's an F-word, and then there's the suffix 'ers') (was that too inappropriate for you, dear Padma?). _

_And if I die, hopefully I take a few DEs with me._

_Kevin_

Morag assumed that Padma hadn't read Kevin's yet, since there hadn't been any noises of disapproval. Padma had always been the appropriate, mature one, especially compared to Morag and Su, who both had a bit of a dirty mouth.

_I really don't know what to write. I'm Mandy Brocklehurst, seventeen, Ravenclaw. I'm a D.A. member, which I'm pretty sure surprised the rest of the Ravenclaws because I usually don't do stuff like that and...yeah. I'm kind of quiet, I guess. But I'll fight Death Eaters and You-Know-Who just as hard as the rest of them._

_Except for maybe Morag and Su. Because they would probably do something like 'EXPELIARMUS YOU BASTARD' and I don't have the guts to do that._

_Mandy._

Morag could actually picture herself and Su saying something along that line. After all, it would certainly surprise the other person. Hmm. Maybe she should bring that up to the other D.A. members. 'Let's surprise Death Eaters by swearing at them.'

Who knows - it might work.

_If you're reading this, then you've discovered our hiding place for these memoirs or letters or whatever the hell they're called. It was Mandy's idea to do this - write little things-that-I'm-not-really-sure-what-to-call and put them somewhere. That way, in the future, someone else could find them and have a record of who we were. Especially because some - or all, you never know - of us might die fighting Death Eaters in this war. I really hope not, but it's unfortunately possible. And I think it makes sense - I don't want to be forgotten forever._

_I'm Terry Boot, for the record. I'm a Ravenclaw seventh year, in the '97-'98 school year at Hogwarts. It's February first now, 1998, and we're in the middle of a war against You-Know-Who. The Second Wizarding War, that is. My friends and I are all members of the D.A., which is this secret organization made up of Hogwarts students. We meet in the Room of Requirement - this place is amazing, it becomes whatever you need - which is on the seventh floor, and we meet in the middle of the night - well, not like three in the morning, more like nine to midnight - and practice defensive and offensive magic and whatever else we might need to fight against the Death Eaters._

_It's actually kind of exciting, being a D.A. member. You know, all the secretiveness and sneaking out - which I don't do, unlike some other people that I know, Kevin and Su - and...I don't know. It's just being part of a secret organization makes this all seem a little better, because there's a bunch of us committed to the same anti-Death Eater cause, fighting for the same exact thing. It makes the whole thing seem a little better and brighter. _

_Anyway, I hope you're enjoying reading these snippets of our lives this year, and I hope that maybe, we've sparked a new interest in history for you. _

_Terry Boot_

Once they all had finished with each other's pieces of parchment, Padma collected them all and sank down onto her knees, much to the curiosity of the others. "There's a loose floorboard here," she explained, setting the pieces to the side so that she could pry it open with both hands. It took a couple minutes - it wasn't as loose as she had thought, apparently - but eventually, she was able to set the parchment in the hole. Putting the floorboard back in was much easier, and when she had finished and returned to her seat, everything appeared exactly the same as it had before they had ever talked about this idea.

* * *

**All right, so yes, I know there were a few spelling/grammar errors in the letters themselves, like Mandy putting one L in Expelliarmus, Su's run-on, comma-less sentence in parentheses, and Terry's long sentences. This is completely on purpose, because these are teenagers writing at nearly eleven o'clock at night, probably not in the best light, and they wouldn't bother to proofread their own work (not to mention, even Ravenclaws make mistakes!). Anyway, this chapter was really fun to write, because I got to explore other people's POVs more. **

**What was your favorite one to read?**


	19. Chapter 19

Morag watched from the Owlery as the school owl flew off with her letter to Katrina. Ever since break, the sisters had been exchanging letters at a rapid pace; both wanted to make sure that the other was all right. Morag had become even more nervous when she learned that Luna had been taken because of Mr. Lovegood's pro-Harry Potter behavior, and Neville's grandmother had been attacked because of Neville's misbehavior at Hogwarts. It was obvious that the Death Eaters weren't shy of attacking family members to punish people, and Katrina, as a Squib, would be such an easy target if they wanted to hurt Morag.

At the moment, she was relatively sure of Katrina's safety. Although she had continued sneaking out to D.A. meetings in the dead of night, she hadn't done anything particularly rebellious since her last detention - unlike Neville and Seamus, for instance, who were in detention practically every other day. She was tempted to do something again, even though her memory of the Cruciatus Curse made her shudder. It was enjoyable to see the Carrows' faces when a student defied them in some way; it showed them that they did not rule everything in this school, no matter how hard they tried.

She turned to leave, nearly bumping into Daphne Greengrass, who was coming in. For once, Daphne wasn't with Pansy, who she seemed to follow around like a faithful dog. Morag didn't trust Pansy in the least bit - Pansy was one of the Carrows' pets, acceptable with the Cruciatus Curse, and occasionally did detentions on younger students that the Carrows didn't care about - but she was slightly less wary of Daphne. After all, many weeks ago, Daphne hadn't turned her in for breaking curfew, even though she could have.

Daphne took a deep breath, her eyes darting toward the door. "Can we talk outside? Where it's more private?"

"Outside is more private?"

"It's freaking cold out there. Everyone's inside, and I really need to talk to you."

"Sure." Morag followed Daphne, who walked quickly through Hogwarts, not even pausing as they went outside, not stopping at all until they were near the Black Lake. "What is it?" she asked as Daphne finally stood still, twisting her hands together. Her blonde hair was blowing in the wind - for once, Daphne Greengrass didn't look put-together and controlled.

The Slytherin girl looked around, obviously making sure no one was within earshot. "It's my sister," she finally said, her voice low. "Astoria - she's a fifth year. And she's...well, the Carrows suspect that she's the Secret Enemy. I doubt that she is, but they've chained her up in the dungeon anyway, and they said they'll keep her there with no food or anything until she talks."

Morag wasn't completely surprised about what the Carrows were doing - by this point, nothing about them surprised her. She was sure that the Carrows wouldn't completely let Astoria Greengrass starve to death - after all, the Greengrasses were a pureblood family that went back a few generations - but they could certainly make life very uncomfortable for her. "Look," Morag said, her mind racing, "I don't know how to get food apart from smuggling it away from supper, and -"

"You know where the Hufflepuff common room is?" Daphne interrupted with a seemingly random question.

"Yeah." She had never been inside - students weren't really supposed to go into other houses' common rooms, although it had happened - but she had been by it a few times, when she was trying to learn where everything was back in first year. "Why?"

"Not far from it, there's a corridor with a picture of a bowl of fruit," said Daphne quickly. "Tickle the pear. The painting will swing open and lead you right into the kitchen. The house-elves there are always willing to give students food, no matter what time it is."

"Even if I go way past curfew?" It was even more risky to do that - Morag knew that meant if she was caught, she would be in trouble both for breaking curfew and for bringing Astoria food - but there were less people out at that time, at least. She had to risk that - doing it in the middle of the day, or even in the early evening, meant that someone would see her and question her as to what she was doing.

"Of course. Now please, you'll do it? You'll help her?" Daphne looked desperate. _Well, she was, _Morag thought. There was no way Daphne would have asked her for help if she wasn't; Morag was the only person who probably had a chance of helping Daphne's sister, since she was positive none of the Slytherins would do anything of the sort.

"Fine," Morag said, her heart pounding a little faster than normal, anticipating the edginess from being outside of her common room after curfew, the nervousness about getting another detention with the Carrows. "I'll bring her some food tonight, all right?"

"Thank you so much!" Daphne hesitated, then quickly leaned forward and squeezed her arms around Morag for about a second. "This means the world to me. Thank you."

Still a little surprised that a Slytherin just hugged her, Morag nodded slowly. "It's no problem. I'm...glad I could help." She offered up a smile, and Daphne did too, a relieved grin that lit up her whole face. It felt slightly strange to be standing there with a Slytherin girl; it felt slightly strange, as well, to know that she would be risking detention for said Slytherin's younger sister. But it wasn't a bad feeling, and it felt good, at least, to be doing something.

* * *

Late that night - she estimated it to be around midnight or twelve-thirty, although she wasn't positive - Morag crept out of the dormitory, thankful that her roommates were asleep. She hadn't told them about her plan to help Astoria; she wasn't sure if they would understand her motivation to help a Slytherin, even a non-evil one like Daphne. Su, especially, had become very anti-Slytherin recently, after seeing Crabbe and Goyle torture a first year in detention, and Morag didn't feel like explaining the whole situation to her friend.

As always when sneaking out, she refrained from lighting her wand. The castle was dark, but not completely pitch-black; moonlight shined in through windows, and there were occasional torches or lights on the walls that showed the way. She had grown used to Hogwarts at night by this point, and it no longer felt weird to be in the dark castle. Her only fear came from patrollers, and she was at full alertness, not even slightly tired.

It took a while to get from Ravenclaw Tower down to the corridor with the still life painting, but she finally reached it. Tickling the pear caused the door to swing open, and she stepped inside to the kitchen, which was shockingly light compared to the rest of the castle. Blinking, she watched as three house-elves approached her. "What can Tilly do for Mistress?" one of them asked.

Morag was mostly unaccustomed to house-elves. Her parents had never had one, and since she didn't go over friends' houses during holidays very often, she wasn't used to them. It wasn't difficult, though; she knew enough about them to know what to do. "I'd like some food," she said, then quickly specified. "Even just leftovers from tonight's supper would be fine. Something that doesn't take you long to prepare. And if you could pack it in something, that would be great - I need to carry it through the castle easily."

The house-elf who had spoken before - Tilly - nodded. "Tilly and them will get right on it, Mistress," she said. Morag watched as they scurried around the kitchen, packing some food into a small box, also throwing in a small, closed container of water. "Is this good, Mistress?" Tilly asked once they had finished.

"Looks great," Morag answered, closing the box and picking it up. "Thank you so much." She hurried out then, moving quickly and quietly to the dungeons. A few times on her way she heard footsteps, but they were always a few corridors down and of no threat to her. She reached the dungeons without any trouble, and managed to find the room Astoria was being held in, stepping in and closing the door behind her.

Astoria - or who she assumed to be Astoria, since the girl had on a Slytherin tie, looked about fifteen, and bore a slight resemblance to Daphne - was sleeping on the floor. A thick cuff was around her leg, and an also-thick chain ran from the wall to the cuff, making it impossible for the girl to escape. Morag set the food down and bent down near the girl, nudging her shoulder. "Wake up," she whispered, hoping that Astoria wasn't going to freak out upon seeing someone. "Wake up."

Her eyes opened, and she instantly rolled backwards and pulled herself to her feet, looking defensive. "Who are you?" she hissed. "If you've come to torture me -"

"I promise, I haven't." Morag held her hands up. "Daphne sent me to bring you food. Here." She leaned over, grabbing the box and handing it to the younger girl, who still looked distrustful, but began devouring the food anyway. Morag couldn't help but wonder how long Astoria had been here without eating, and how long the Carrows would actually keep her here. Her pureblood name would protect her from real harm, certainly, but it seemed that the Carrows' only thought of 'real harm' was killing or severely wounding.

"Look," Astoria said after a couple bites. "You should get out of here. They check on me every -"

Anything else she could say was cut off by the door opening, and a petite silhouette appeared in the doorway, wand raised, the tip glowing. Pansy Parkinson, Morag realized as her face came into view. "Oh, look at that," Pansy simpered. "MacDougal's trying to help little Greengrass. How sweet." She brought her wand down sharply, and a shallow, long cut appeared on Morag's arm, cutting through the fabric of her robes and her skin. Morag hissed in pain, jumping to her feet.

"You look here, Parkinson -"

"I would stop right there if I was you," another voice - a darkly familiar voice - said, and Alecto Carrow pushed Pansy aside and stepped into the dungeon. "You see, you already have a week's worth of detention. If you threaten or insult one of my best students, Miss Parkinson here, I might have to add more days to it. Now, what were you saying?"

Morag sucked in a sharp breath. A week's detention was more than she had envisioned. "I wasn't saying anything."

"I wasn't saying anything, _Professor,_" Carrow corrected.

Morag was highly tempted to take a page from Harry Potter's book. The previous year, he had gotten in trouble for saying 'There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor' after Snape had added 'sir' to the end of Harry's statement, just like Alecto Carrow had just added 'Professor' to the end of Morag's. She was opening her mouth to say 'There's no need to call me Professor', but Astoria suddenly said, "Can you all get out of here? It's hard enough to sleep on this floor without someone being sentenced to detention right in my current bedroom."

"Get to bed, MacDougal," Carrow barked. "I'll see you tomorrow after classes."

Morag left, wondering whether Astoria had anticipated Morag getting herself in even more trouble, or if the young Slytherin simply wanted everyone out of there.


	20. Chapter 20

The next day, Morag didn't instantly tell her friends about detention. She had returned the previous night to find them all asleep, and she had managed to heal the cut Parkinson had given her. She headed back to Ravenclaw Tower with them the next day after classes, intending to drop off her bag in the dormitory - there was no way she was bringing it to detention and carrying a twenty-pound bag up seven flights of stairs after getting tortured. When she came back down to the common room after leaving her bag up in the dormitory, Su waved her over. "C'mere!" she called. "Kevin and I are coming up with a list." Padma, sitting there with them, rolled her eyes.

Knowing Kevin and Su, the list probably was inappropriate, rude, Carrow-hating, or some combination of those three. In other words, it was exactly the sort of thing that Morag would enjoy laughing about with her friends, but she didn't have time for it. She didn't want to see what the Carrows' reaction would be if she was overtly late for detention. "Can't," she answered, taking a deep breath. "I have detention."

"What'd you do?" Su asked curiously, and Padma looked concerned.

"I'll tell you later," answered Morag. "It'll probably be worse if I'm late."

"We'll come find you if you aren't back in an hour," Michael said, trying and failing to not seem too worried.

Morag nodded. "Okay." She left without further conversation, traveling out of the Ravenclaw common room and down the multiple flights of stairs. She wanted to move slowly, to procrastinate this as long as possible, but at the same time she knew it would be worse if she took too long - who knew what the Carrows would do if she was too late?

Her body shook slightly as she made her way down the last staircase, and she stopped, trying to get a hold of herself. Even for someone who had been in Carrow-detention before, the prospect of voluntarily walking into the dungeon was still terrifying. She knew what she was in for, and she wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was it easier for those who had gotten detention in the very beginning of the year, when it hadn't been common knowledge? Was it easier, the fear of not knowing what was coming, or the terror of knowing exactly what horror one was in store for?

_Get a grip, _she told herself. It wasn't anything that she hadn't dealt with before. She had a few days' detention back in December, not to mention that she had voluntarily gone and brought food to Astoria. She should have expected that she would have been caught; even the Carrows weren't idiotic enough to leave a prisoner completely unguarded. In fact, she had been the stupid one, staying a few minutes after she had brought Astoria the food. Why the hell hadn't she dropped the food in the dungeon and run off?

She shook her head and continued on her way. Thinking in depth about all this wasn't going to help - in fact, it was only going to serve to make her late, which would be even worse. Morag reached the dungeons, and although she was tempted to just stand there, she forced herself to peek into each one until she found the dungeon that Alecto Carrow was standing in, tapping her foot impatiently. "Get over here, MacDougal," Carrow barked, yanking Morag in and slamming the door shut behind them.

Morag was taller than Carrow, but it was still obvious that the Death Eater had the upper hand in this situation. A tiny part of Morag was highly tempted to fight back, to duel and then run, but she knew that would be completely idiotic. Killing - or even injuring - a Death Eater would probably bring the whole organization of Death Eaters down on her, and she definitely didn't want that.

She wasn't totally paying attention, and therefore the first curse hit her out of nowhere, startling her backwards before she collapsed to the floor in the throes of agony, her whole body writhing under the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. She screamed in pain, not wanting to give Carrow the satisfaction but being unable to stop herself. The curse was so completely torturous, so painful that she just couldn't keep quiet, no matter how much she wanted to. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her body arching off the floor before dropping back down. Even if she had tried to focus on something else to lessen the agony, she wouldn't have been able to; the curse was utterly all-consuming, and her mind couldn't fathom anything else in those moments.

It was impossible for Morag to tell how long Carrow kept her under the curse. Each session couldn't have been much longer than a few minutes - she was sure that Carrow was unable to hold the spell any longer than that - but when each minute felt like an hour, time lost all meaning. After a few rounds of the curse, she became unable to even tell how many times Carrow had placed the Cruciatus on her; it seemed like an eternity had passed before finally, the curse was lifted for the last time and Carrow left, slamming the door behind her.

Morag lied there on the floor for a moment, her whole body completely sore, breathing quickly. It was tempting to lie there for a while longer, to make an hour pass so that Michael would come and get her, and she wouldn't have to walk up to Ravenclaw Tower - damn those seven flights of stairs! - herself. She sighed then - better to show the Carrows that detention didn't faze her, and she was still fine, or at least pretending to be fine. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of possibly seeing her be half-carried up the stairs by Michael.

"Bloody Carrow," she mumbled, pushing herself to a sitting position. Even that required more effort than she actually wanted to exert. She scooted over to the wall, using it to help pull herself to standing, wincing as she swayed a little in her spot. Morag stayed there for a moment, letting the dizziness reside, and then she made her way out of the dungeon, nearly bumping straight into Daphne Greengrass, who looked as though she was headed in the direction of the Slytherin common room. "Sorry," Morag said, her voice coming out hoarse. She cleared her throat.

"Get back in there," Daphne said, pushing the door open. Morag's brows furrowed, wondering what Daphne was on about as the blonde Slytherin pulled her back inside the dungeon.

"What the hell?" Morag said, but any further exclamations were cut off.

"You were caught?" Daphne looked concerned.

Several snarky retorts rose to the surface of Morag's mind, but she bit them back, not wanting to be extremely rude when she was alone in a dungeon with a Slytherin. She was almost totally sure Daphne wouldn't curse her, but it didn't hurt to be safe. "Yeah," she decided on, nodding her head. "I brought the food to Astoria first, though, so she was able to -"

Daphne cut her off. "The Carrows released Astoria this morning. I'm sorry that I got you detention when it turned out my sister wasn't in any real danger to begin with." She sighed. "If I had known that they weren't serious, I wouldn't have asked you. And..." She paused, and looked as though she was struggling to say the next words. "If I can do anything for you..." She let the sentence trail off.

Another snappy comeback - '_Yeah, don't ask me to put myself in dangerous situations that you could - and should - handle yourself_' - came to the forefront of her mind, and she hesitated before responding. "No, there's nothing," she answered, leaning against the wall.

"How long?" Daphne saw Morag's confused expression, and elaborated. "How long did they give you detention for?"

"A week," Morag said tightly. The mere thought of it was terrible; she had been utterly exhausted after a few days' worth, and that was with Michael alongside her, not to mention she was sure that this detention had lasted longer than her previous ones. "Look, I need to get back to Ravenclaw Tower. My friend will start looking for me if I'm gone much longer." She was surprised Michael hadn't arrived yet; without a watch, she had no idea how much time had passed, but she was sure that the hour mark was steadily approaching.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry," Daphne said, and started out, holding the door open for Morag in a surprise display of kindness. Morag nodded at the Slytherin girl as she walked past, her steps slow and measured. She didn't dare to walk too fast - not after what she had just been through, not with her sore, aching body. She turned around at the end of the corridor, looking back to see if Daphne was still there, but the Slytherin girl was gone.

Morag continued back to Ravenclaw Tower at the same pace, ignoring the curious looks a few younger students sent her, only to find Michael right outside the common room. "Hey," she said, just as he said, "Morag! I was just coming down to get you."

"I'm fine," she said, and he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Er, I'm alive."

"You want to come look at Kevin and Su's list now? It might cheer you up a little."

In spite of herself, Morag smiled as they reentered the common room. "So what is it a list of?"

"Names and epithets that apply to the Carrows," he responded, and Morag chuckled. "Who knows, maybe you might be able to come up with something. Even Padma contributed - although, of course, hers were some of the more appropriate ones." He tilted his head slightly. "Has she ever actually swore?"

"I can hear you!" Padma said, shooting a mock glare at Michael.

Su rolled her eyes at Padma. "Oi, shove over. Give Morag room to sit down - I need to show her my list. And hey, you all right?"

Morag shrugged. "Alive. And I'm definitely in the mood for some Carrow bashing."

Kevin snorted. "This year, we're always in the mood for some Carrow bashing."


	21. Chapter 21

The week of detention seemed to pass by impossibly slow, in Morag's opinion. The daytime was spent in scared anticipation, knowing what was coming but still being worried, and the time after detention was spent trying to do homework when all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep. The other Ravenclaws couldn't help much; there weren't any words of comfort they could offer, and none of them would do Morag's homework, of course. It was a relief, therefore, when the week ended, and soon after that was the Easter holidays.

On the way home, Morag shared a train compartment with Padma, Su, and Mandy, as usual. The train ride was one of the few times that all of the Ravenclaws wouldn't hang out together; there simply wasn't enough space in one compartment for both the boys and girls, and so they split up. Mandy was reading one of their textbooks, but the other three weren't doing anything.

"Doing anything over holidays?" Morag asked idly, looking out the window and watching the scenery rush by.

Padma groaned. "Parvati's having Lavender over."

"Have fun with that," Su said.

The Indian girl shook her head, making her ponytail swing back and forth. "They'll probably drag me shopping in the Muggle world or some other nonsense. And they're always up until one or two in the morning, giggling and talking really loudly because they're hyped up on sugar. And my parents never want me to go over anyone's house for the holidays, because they think holidays should be spent with family. So I'm stuck there."

"Same." Su nudged the compartment door, which was open a crack, causing it to completely shut. "My mum needs help taking care of my brothers. Which can be a pain in the arse."

"At least I don't have to deal with Katrina sulking anymore," Morag said. "Since she's finally become normal."

"Lucky. My brothers will never be normal."

Midway through the ride, the four Ravenclaw girls changed into normal clothes - Muggle clothes for Mandy and Su, regular robes for Morag and Padma. As she sat down again, Morag once again glanced out the window. It was difficult to believe that the school year was nearly over. A little over two months, and she would be taking her NEWTs and leaving Hogwarts. It would be such a relief to leave, after this year, and not for the first time she wondered what she would actually do.

She was highly tempted to just take off. It was once a tradition for many people, upon leaving Hogwarts, to take an extended holiday around the world. She was tempted to do something of the sort; her parents had enough money in Gringotts to provide for something like that, thanks to their constant working and non-extravagant lifestyle. Doing something like that would also take her away from Britain, at least for a little while, which sounded amazing. Being in a Death Eater-free place sounded blissful.

Morag mused on the possibilities for a large portion of the rest of the train ride. As the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross Station, she snapped back to attention, pulling her trunk down from the overhead compartment, narrowly missing Su. "Have a good holiday," she said to the others, opening the compartment door as they started getting their own luggage. "See you in a week."

"Bye, Morag!" Padma said, followed by Su's "See ya later!" and Mandy's quiet, "Bye."

Waving at them, Morag navigated her way off the train, careful not to trample any of the first years - were they really that short, or was she just tall? - as she made her way off. The platform was crowded, as usual, but it wasn't difficult to find a spot near the back and spin in place, trunk in hand, to Apparate back to her home.

She landed in the backyard, her trunk falling into a puddle. Muttering a quick drying spell - she didn't fancy the idea of hearing either of her parents tell her off for dragging puddle water into the house - she carried it into the house, dropping it near the door when she saw Katrina. "Hey," Morag said, wrapping her sister in a quick one-armed embrace.

"How're you?" Katrina eyed Morag's shoulder, where the months-old scar from her first detention could still be seen, faded but visible. "Did you get detention again?"

"Unfortunately. Let me bring my trunk upstairs." She flicked her wand at it, causing it to rise into the air and bob behind her as she went to her room. Katrina followed the trunk and Morag, stepping into Morag's bedroom as well. The room was surprisingly not dusty; Katrina must have been keeping it clean, as she knew that neither of her parents would have bothered. "How have you been? Any new updates with that boy you fancy - what's his name, Will?"

Katrina blushed. "You shut up."

"Ooh, I'm taking that to mean there's news. Sit." Morag flopped onto her bed, patting the area next to her. "Tell."

The younger MacDougal perched on the edge of the bed, hands folded on her lap. "Do I have to?"

"Yes. Absolutely. Tell me something, because I know there's news. I don't want to spend my whole holiday pestering you to tell me. Come on."

Katrina glanced down at her hands, her cheeks still pink. Morag smirked up at her, propping her head on her hand as she waited for Katrina's revelation. The younger girl sighed slightly, then took a deep breath. "He sort of - we, um, snogged."

"No way! Wait, you're barely fourteen - do I need to go teach this bloke a lesson? Or did you initiate it?"

"Don't teach him a lesson," Katrina said. "I like his lips intact, thank you very much. And I may have, um, kissed him first."

"Good for you!" Morag grinned rakishly at her sister. It was fun to talk about something as inane as her younger sister's new relationship, to get her mind off Hogwarts and the Carrows for a little while. "So are you going out now?"

"Technically." Katrina still looked embarrassed, but there was a small smile on her face. "We went to go see a movie - it's this Muggle thing where -"

"I know what a movie is," Morag interrupted, chuckling. "My roommate - former roommate," she corrected, a slightly dark look passing over her face, "was Muggle-born. She explained some stuff."

"Oh. Well, we went to go see a movie."

"You and Will in a dark room, huh?"

"Shut it, Morag."

The girls remained in Morag's room for a little while longer, talking about Katrina and Will's new relationship, as well as some other drama and situations in Katrina's life. Some of it Morag recognized from the letters they had been exchanging, but talking in person gave her sister a chance to elaborate. Katrina was more than happy to focus simply on the things going on with her life, and she wondered why. In the letters, Katrina had constantly inquired as to whether Morag was all right, and what was going on at Hogwarts.

"What are we doing for dinner?" Morag asked as the clock approached eight o'clock. Their parents would be getting home soon, she knew.

"I'll boil some water. We have boxes of pasta in the cupboard."

"You know how to make pasta?" Morag followed her sister down the stairs. "I didn't know that you knew how to cook."

"I don't always feel like waiting until eight to have supper," explained Katrina. "Now that I don't have to go to Mrs. MacPherson's house after school, and I've been staying home alone until Mum and Dad get back, I've been making myself food." She rummaged around in the cupboard, pulling out a box of spaghetti and setting it on the table before filling a pot with water. Just as she sat down at the table to wait, Mr. and Mrs. MacDougal came into the house, both looking tired.

"Glad to see you started supper, Katrina," Mrs. MacDougal said. "Morag, good to see you home."

"Glad to see you, Mum, Dad," Morag said reflexively as they both headed into their bedroom to change and unwind from the day's work.

A short while later, supper was finished, and all four MacDougals sat down at the table to eat. They were quiet for a little while, nobody having much to say, and then Katrina said conversationally, "Morag, how long did you have detention for?"

Her eyes widened. Her parents most certainly didn't know what was going on at Hogwarts; Morag had never bothered to tell them, and she figured that it would have been obvious to Katrina not to tell them also. "A -" she started, but before she could respond, her father interrupted her.

"Morag, why did you get detention? I thought we taught you not to make trouble! This could go on your permanent record, you know, and make it difficult for you to find a good job at the Ministry."

"As if I'd want to work there right now - it's full of Death Eaters." Morag couldn't help retorting, and her mother's mouth dropped open.

"Don't speak to your father like that," she said. "Now, why did you get detention?"

She took a deep breath, tempted to say something stupid and untrue, but deciding that the truth would actually make a bigger impact. "I was bringing food to a girl who was chained up in the dungeons. They were going to starve her until she admitted to doing something. I thought that was wrong. And because I did something that most people would universally consider to be 'good' and 'morally right', I got a week's detention."

"And you know what they - the, er, Carrows - do to people who earn detentions?" Katrina said, dropping her fork. "The Cruciatus Curse."

There was absolute silence for a moment. Morag's parents exchanged a glance, and Morag shot a look at her sister, a not-so-happy look that equated to '_Why the hell did you bring this up?_' It was Morag's father that finally spoke. "Regardless of what your moral stance is, you shouldn't have gone against what the authority at Hogwarts does. It's best to remain neutral, and not get involved in anything that could lead to trouble."

"Are you yelling at me for getting myself tortured?" Morag said incredulously, looking between her parents. "There's no, 'Oh, Merlin, Morag, are you all right?' No, in this house, it's 'Who cares what's right, and who cares that you got _tortured _for what probably equaled five hours over the time period of seven days? You weren't neutral!'" She imitated her father's voice both times, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her heart pounding. She couldn't believe she was finally standing up to them.

"Morag -" her mother said, but Morag wasn't done.

"Look at this," she said, yanking down the shoulder of her robes so that the scar was on full display. "That's from another detention nearly five months ago - few days before Christmas holidays. My friend Anthony had to heal this, because we aren't allowed to go to Madam Pomfrey for detention-related injuries." Her mouth twisted on the last words. "Hogwarts has changed. And Merlin, I'm eighteen years old - I'm old enough to decide for myself how to act." She was well aware that she was speaking loudly, louder than she had ever dared speak to her parents before, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Morag Alyssa MacDougal!" Her father looked and sounded angry, but her mother placed a hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down.

"Morag," her mother said, her voice quiet. "We only want what's best for you. Making waves and causing trouble isn't the way to go about anything, though, and the smart thing to do would be to keep your head down. You only have a couple of months left before you're done with Hogwarts and you're out into the real world. Getting a job at the Ministry won't be easy if you've got a record of being a troublemaker."

Morag gritted her teeth before responding. "I've never gotten detention for anything important before this year, and I don't want to work at the Ministry if it's full of Death Eaters." Her hands, hidden beneath the table, were clenched into fists. "See why I didn't tell you two anything about Hogwarts until now? Not because I thought it would worry you or anything like that - because I didn't want something like this to happen." She pushed her half-finished plate away. "I'm out of here." She nodded at Katrina. "Thanks for cooking supper. It was good."

She stormed up to her room, letting the door slam shut behind her, and wondering how she was going to make it through the rest of the holiday.


	22. Chapter 22

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Katrina said the next morning, her voice small, when Morag came downstairs. It was eleven am, which suited Morag perfectly fine; it meant that she didn't see her parents before they left for work, which was all right with her. She was still angry over what had happened the previous night, and although she had tried to see their viewpoint, she just couldn't. "I'm sorry I brought up your detention," Katrina continued, as if it hadn't been clear to Morag what she was talking about.

Morag took an apple from the refrigerator and ran it under the faucet, drying it on the front of her robes. "I'm not that angry with you," Morag said. "I'm more furious with Mum and Dad, if I'm honest; they're the ones who reacted poorly." She shook her head, taking a quick bite of the fruit before continuing. "I mean, if I tell someone that I got myself tortured...I don't expect that person to say 'Well, you kind of got yourself into a bad situation'. It's just...I know how Mum and Dad are, and that's why I didn't tell them. But it still isn't really nice when they act like that."

"So you're not angry with me?" Katrina said.

Morag shook her head again. "Not really. I mean, I wish you hadn't brought it up, but I suppose it was bound to happen at some point." She sighed. "Everything's just become...ugh. Death Eaters are running the Ministry, Death Eaters are running Hogwarts, Muggle-borns aren't really allowed to, well, exist, and no one's doing anything about it."

"You are," Katrina said. "You're revolting against the Death Eaters at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, but it's not really doing anything apart from annoying them." Her mind flashed to the D.A., and how they were learning to fight and defend themselves. Every single one of them had improved in such a vast way since the beginning of the year. They had pushed themselves, trained and mock-dueled and gotten in shape both physically and magically. They were soldiers, ready for a fight that didn't seem to be coming. Perhaps, at some point - probably some point in the far future, considering how everything was going at this point - they would rise up and do something real, something more important than getting detention every other day.

* * *

When Morag returned to Hogwarts - after an extremely awkward holiday, in which she barely spoke to her parents after the disastrous first night - she realized there seemed to be a few key people missing. Neville Longbottom was nowhere to be seen, as well as Ginny Weasley. It was something she didn't notice on the train; she stayed in the compartment with the other Ravenclaw girls the whole time.

At the feast, though, she glanced over at the Gryffindor table, scanning the whole thing, but not spotting Ginny or Neville. It was a strange situation; both were the leaders of the D.A. - Neville more than Ginny, but still. The possibility of both of them missing was a scary one. Who would step up in the absence of both of them? No one else was in charge, or even close to it, like they were.

"What's happened to Ginny and Neville?" Morag asked the other Ravenclaws as they gathered in the boys' dormitory that night. "Does anyone know?"

"You left your D.A. Galleon at Hogwarts over the break," Padma said. It was a question, not a statement, and Morag wrinkled her forehead. What did that have to do with - oh.

"Ginny and Neville sent messages to everyone, didn't they?" she guessed. "Using the Galleons."

"Ginny's hiding out," Michael said. "Her parents...well, with everything that's going on, they thought it was too dangerous for her to return to Hogwarts. So she's hiding out somewhere with her family. Neville's in the Room of Requirement."

"In the...he's living in there? Hiding out in there?"

Terry nodded. "It's the perfect place to hide - if he doesn't want certain people to get in, then they won't. I have no idea what he's doing for food. The Room can't create that, I'm sure. But he's all right, though, he sent a message to us. D.A. meetings are still on, also, and he's extended an invitation for anybody who wants to live there to join him. If the Carrows get to be too much."

"Hell, I'll go this second," Su said, getting up as if she actually would.

Michael flung out his arm to stop her. "Don't be an idiot. We only have a few months left; if something really bad happens, we'll go, but it's stupid to go when they haven't even done anything yet."

"They've done a lot," Su protested, but she sat back down next to Kevin, and nothing more was said on the matter that night.

* * *

The D.A. meeting the next night was interesting, in more ways than one. It was odd enough with the absence of Ginny, who had been a fixture at every single meeting since the beginning, but it was made even stranger by, for one, the appearance of the Room of Requirement. Gone was the mostly-empty room with only cushions and books to fill up the space. Now, the room was Neville's own safe haven, and it could be seen - there was a hammock, a comfortable armchair, a bookcase full of books, and a few dummies propped up against the wall, all with visible evidence of spells used against them.

As more and more of the D.A. poured in, the room expanded. Neville's little area disappeared, replaced by the familiar appearance of the D.A.'s practice room. Seamus grinned at Neville. "You've got a knack for knowing how to control this room, huh?"

Neville shrugged modestly. "It's something you pick up," he said. Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff smiled at him, and he blushed slightly, clearing his throat and getting down to business. Morag smirked - what was going on between them? - and then jumped slightly as someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around. Romilda Vane, a fifth year, was standing there, a slightly disgruntled look on her face. "Yes?" Morag said quizzically, looking at the girl. She knew her vaguely from D.A. meetings, of course, but it wasn't as though they had talked a whole lot before. All around the girls, people were pairing up for mock-duels, going off to the side once they had found a partner.

"MacDougal, right?" Romilda said.

"Morag MacDougal, yeah. Why?"

"We should partner up," Romilda said, a slightly bossy note in her voice. "My friends are being obnoxious."

Morag shrugged. "Sure." It was better to get a bit of variety, anyway; she tended to partner up with the same people day after day, until she had gotten used to their styles of casting and blocking spells. They walked over to the wall, watching as Neville and Parvati went at it. That was a pretty close match, and it had been going on for about three minutes already when Romilda finally spoke up.

"You think you're going to come live here?"

"Not yet. I'd love to get through Hogwarts normally and just..." She instinctively paused before remembering that they were in a safe area, and therefore she didn't have to censor herself. "I'd love to get out of here. Not just Hogwarts, but the country. With all that's going on, you know?"

Romilda tilted her head slightly. "You'd run away?"

Morag felt a flash of annoyance. "What the hell am I supposed to do? I'd never survive at some idiotic Ministry job like my parents - not to mention I'd love to get away from them, too," she added darkly, ignoring the fact that she barely knew Romilda, and that she didn't talk about her parents with most people. Screw it all. Romilda was in the D.A., and so they had a common bond. Besides, she had asked, and she was going to receive an answer. "If there was a fight, I would fight. But all that's happening - we've practically lost. Unless there's some big rally of all our supporters, all the people who have some freaking sense left...I'm out."

"I could never leave," Romilda said. "I guess I'm too much of a Gryffindor," she added, laughing self-consciously. "But I have two years of Hogwarts left, y'know, and while I don't know whether I'll be able to get through them...I'm still underage. There's not a whole lot I can do either way." She looked around the Room of Requirement. "It would be interesting to live here, though, right under the Carrows' stupid noses."

The older girl cracked a smile at that - any Carrow-bashing was fine with her. "You're right in that it would be interesting - I just have so little time left at Hogwarts it seems like a waste."

"Who knows?" Romilda said. "Harry Potter might come back at the end of this school year and do something great. I mean, he's done it for the past few years, hmm?"

"Every year I've been at Hogwarts," Morag said, recounting his adventures. There had been the Philosopher's Stone and Quirrell-You-Know-Who back in first year, then the Chamber of Secrets in second, Sirius Black in third, fighting You-Know-Who after the third task in fourth year, fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry in fifth year, and then Dumbledore's death and a small battle at the school last year. Every year, he did something, and it was a curious thing to wonder - would he do it again? Would he actually show up somewhere in May or June and fight against You-Know-Who?

She wished he would - this war needed to end, and it needed to end soon.


	23. Chapter 23

There was a nervous tension in the area of the Ravenclaw common room that the seventh years were currently occupying. Su had gotten herself detention that day by complaining loudly about the Carrows' methods in the beginning of Dark Arts. Although the rest of the classes had gone smoothly, apart from Seamus Finnegan making a few rude comments about Alecto and Amycus Carrow in Muggle Studies, the classes had finished, and Su - along with Seamus, no doubt - had made her way down to detention.

"Padma," Michael said, watching with a sigh as Padma paced around their little corner. "You're making me dizzy. Sit down - if not for your own sake, for mine."

"Don't be a jerk." Anthony gave Michael a reproachful look. "Su's been gone for over an hour - that's a really long detention, you know, even if you take into consideration the time spent getting back from the dungeons to here, and -" He fell silent as Su stepped into the Ravenclaw common room. Her face was paler than normal, and her steps were slow, but she made her way over to where the others were. Morag watched her friend with concern as Su sank into a seat, looking completely exhausted. "Are you -" Anthony sounded like he was going to ask if Su was all right, but apparently he decided that was a stupid question, and shut up.

"Did something happen?" Morag asked. "Something beyond normal Carrow-detention?"

Su nodded, sucking in a deep breath and wincing as she did so. "There's - they have a first year down in the dungeons, chained up. She said that the Carrows were angry with her because she refused to hex one of her classmates in Dark Arts, and then she said that Dark Arts classes were stupid."

"Just like you this morning," Kevin pointed out.

"Thank you, Kevin." Su sighed. "Anyway, she's chained in one of the dungeons, and they plan to keep her there for a while, torture her, and make an example out of her, and I- I can't let that happen." The others looked at her curiously, and she continued. "It's bad enough that they torture the older students, but Merlin, this girl is eleven freaking years old."

"I have an idea," Morag said. "What house is this girl from?"

"Gryffindor," Su said, tilting her head slightly. "Where are you going with this?"

"The Carrows wouldn't think to look for her here," Morag continued, making sure to keep her voice quiet. She looked around, but no one was even close to them, thankfully. "If we bring her back up here, we can hide her in our dormitory - oh, relax, Terry, I mean the girls' dorm - and just bring up food and stuff like that. And you know that if the Carrows want to search the school, they'd make a big deal of it, and one of us could just sneak away with her to the Room of Requirement or something. You think?" She glanced at the others, her heart pounding. This felt exciting - now, the Ravenclaws were actually doing something real, not just going to D.A. meetings.

"How do we bring her back up without anyone noticing?" Padma said.

"In the middle of the night." Kevin answered before Morag could. "There's way less people out. The first year will be fine until then, I'm sure - if the Carrows wanted to make an example out of her, they'd drag it out for a while and keep her down there."

"Who's going to rescue her?" Terry looked slightly concerned, and Morag was reminded of the fact that he hadn't gotten a detention yet.

"I want to go," Morag said rashly. "It's my idea we're using, and I want to have a part in it." She felt reckless and dangerous, almost like a Gryffindor. Her parents would be horrified to see her now. _Awesome, _she thought, feeling very much like a rebellious teenager - which, she supposed, she technically was.

"You shouldn't go alone," Padma said.

Michael raised his eyebrows. "I believe, Morag, that we'll once again be making trouble together." He grinned at her. Her mind flashed back to December, riding brooms around the Entrance Hall with him.

"Meet me at twelve-thirty in the common room, partner-in-crime."

* * *

To Morag's surprise, the common room was completely deserted at twelve-thirty, apart from Michael. She had expected that someone would still be awake; after all, it wasn't uncommon for students to stay up until odd hours of the night, finishing homework assignments. The emptiness certainly made things simpler, though - it wouldn't have felt safe to leave after curfew with someone still awake, if it was someone that they didn't know well. Morag crossed the common room quickly. "How long were you waiting?" she asked Michael.

"I stayed down here the whole time - didn't bother going to sleep for an hour. I had an essay to do anyway." He led the way out, stopping instantly and peering around to ensure that no one was waiting for curfew-breakers right outside the Ravenclaw common room. Morag wouldn't put it past the Carrows to do something like that, although apparently they weren't intelligent enough to come up with an idea like that.

"You know we'll have to be quick," Morag whispered. "They'll probably have someone checking up on the girl a lot to make sure no one does what we're about to do."

"Of course," Michael replied, equally quiet. "We'll be fast." He led the way, his wand out but not lit, navigating solely on the moonlight from the windows and the occasional torch on the walls. It was no longer as difficult to maneuver around Hogwarts at night as it had been in the beginning of the school year; Morag was so used to it by now, and she knew the way around almost as well as she did in the daytime.

Morag trailed close behind Michael, listening for the sound of other people's footsteps. This was something that she definitely didn't want to get caught doing; she was sure it would mean a week's detention, like it had with Astoria Greengrass. It would probably even be more, since with Astoria, she had simply brought the other girl food; this time, she and Michael were actually planning to release the Carrows' prisoner and hide her away. This was officially dangerous territory.

Michael and Morag reached the dungeons relatively soon after they had left, and began looking into each room for the first year. It took a little while to find her, as she was in the very last room, chained to the wall in the same way that Astoria had been, although she was asleep. Morag knelt down beside the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Wake up," she whispered, gently shaking the first year's shoulder. "It's okay," she said as the girl's eyes flew open, a look of terror in them. "We're on your side. Michael, can you get the chain off?"

Michael was already working on it, and it flew off within seconds. The first year shakily got to her feet, with Morag's help, and Michael peered out of the door just as footsteps sounded down the hall. The first year went white, and Morag was sure the same paleness was echoed on her own face. They only had seconds to decide what to do, or else all three of them would be in the most trouble that they had ever been in.

The first year was shivering now, and Morag racked her brain frantically. In the space of about a second, the idea came to her, and she whipped out her wand, tapping first the girl, then herself, on the head, performing a Disillusionment Charm. Just as she was about to reach for Michael, to do the same to him, the door opened, and Alecto Carrow stood there, looking at Michael, and then at the seemingly empty room. Morag froze, holding the first year close to herself. The room was lit only by Alecto and Michael's wands, and in such near-darkness, Morag and the girl were near-invisible. As long as they stayed still, they, at least, might have a chance of getting out of here.

"Look what we have here," Alecto said. "The little brat is gone, but you're here. Caught red-handed, eh, Corner?"

"I-" Michael appeared to be searching frantically for some excuse, or something to say that would explain his presence there in that room. He apparently couldn't come up with anything, though, so he fell silent. Morag kept her breathing shallow and quiet, determined to at least get herself and the first year out of there safely. She was more terrified than she had ever been in her life - Michael was one of her closest friends, and she didn't want him tortured. What would it accomplish, though, to reveal herself as well? She wasn't a Gryffindor, and she wouldn't sacrifice herself in that way. What she would do, though, is get that first year to safety, just like they came to do.

"You did this all by yourself, right?" Alecto said, swinging her wand around so that the light let her see all corners of the room. "No little friends helping you out?"

Michael didn't even glance back to where Morag and the first year were still standing. "I wouldn't need any help," he said. "In fact, I would have gotten away with it if you hadn't come in at this exact moment."

"Where's the girl?" the Carrow snarled, glaring at Morag's friend.

"She went ahead of me," Michael said. "I only stayed behind because I tripped, and this stone floor scrapes hands pretty easily. I wanted to heal myself, and I did. Then _you _came in." He made a face as he said 'you', and Morag fought the small urge to slap him. Was he trying to get himself in trouble?

"Don't need your story, Corner. Where did you send the girl? Is she back at Gryffindor Tower?"

Michael shrugged. "Obviously, if I released her from here, I wanted her away from you. Therefore, I'm not going to tell you where she is."

"You little-" Carrow pointed her wand directly at his heart. "Crucio!"

The curse struck Michael, and he screamed, dropping to the ground. Morag stole out, the first year beside her, their quiet footsteps hidden by Michael's cries, and Carrow's yells as she questioned him. Morag made it safely back to Ravenclaw Tower, the girl - whose name she still didn't know - by her side, and brought her up to the seventh-year girls' dormitory. As she undid the Disillusionment Charm and made up Lisa's empty bed for the girl, though, there was a sinking feeling in her heart, even though the mission was a success. They had safely rescued the first year, but at what cost?


	24. Chapter 24

Morag could barely sleep. She was comfortable, but her thoughts kept returning to Michael, down in the dungeon with Alecto Carrow. It wasn't completely surprising that Alecto had chosen to punish him immediately, even though it was past midnight; it was such a serious offense to Carrow, and she probably believed that Michael would try to run away or hide if she let him wait for punishment. It definitely wasn't a good thing, though - who knew how long she'd keep him down there?

At around five-thirty, she pushed the covers off of her and climbed out of bed, changing into her robes. The other occupants of the room, including the first-year girl, were still asleep, and she chanced a glance back at them as she went to the door. It would be weird if any of her roommates woke up and noticed her gone, since Morag was never an early riser, but she was too worried about Michael to leave a note. Slipping out as silently as she could, she tiptoed down the stairs.

There were actually a couple people in the common room - a girl who looked about thirteen or fourteen, and a sixth-year boy who was frantically flipping the pages in a book, whispering to himself. Neither of them seemed to notice Morag as she left the Ravenclaw common room, jogging through the halls. They were completely deserted - it was too late for anyone to bother patrolling, and too early for any students to be awake. The sun had started rising, and so it was no longer as dark inside as it had been five hours ago; the halls were dim, but it was very easy for Morag to find her way down to the dungeons. She did so in what was probably record time - the lack of people meant she could jog, and the light meant that she didn't have to be worried about tripping over something, and made her way to the dungeon where the first-year girl had been kept in.

She pushed the door open, and inhaled sharply. Michael was laying there, not moving, and there was dried blood on both his robes - which were torn - and the floor. Morag rushed over to him, kneeling down right next to him and feeling for his heartbeat, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt it underneath her hand. It wasn't as strong as it probably should have been, but it existed, thank Merlin.

"Merlin," she muttered, looking at him. Up close, he looked even worse. His wrist was bent at an unnatural angle, and he had several cuts - thankfully shallow - all over his arms and chest. His robes were torn around these places, and a few of the cuts, although not deep, looked particularly nasty. All of this, too, was only added to the fact that he had, no doubt, endured the Cruciatus Curse for a pretty long time.

Morag stood up and backed out of the dungeon, closing the door behind her and performing all the protective charms that she knew. She'd never be able to heal Michael herself, and she didn't want to move him, either. Anthony had told her and the others once that moving someone was risky if the extent of their injuries wasn't known. She would have been capable of moving him - a Featherlight Charm would have rendered him light enough for her to carry, and Wingardium Leviosa would have worked if she had trusted herself to levitate him all that way - but she didn't think she should.

Never before had she been glad to wake up early, but at this time, she was thankful for the earliness - it meant no one was around. She raced through the corridors and up the stairs, her hair flying around her face, her arms pumping. By the time she reached Ravenclaw Tower again, she was exhausted, but she didn't stop for a second as she spat the answer to the door-knocker's riddle and darted through the common room, running up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

She didn't even knock. Normally she never would have done that - not knocking on the door of a room occupied by teenage boys was usually a Very Bad Idea, but she didn't care this time. If any of them were doing something embarrassing, well, that was their own fault - and who would even do embarrassing things at five-thirty in the morning, anyway? "Anthony!" she half-yelled, rushing over to him and shaking his shoulder. "Anthony Goldstein, you get up this minute!"

He sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily. "Morag?" he said, his voice sounding tired. "What are you doing? It's five-thirty - I don't think I've ever seen you up -"

"Michael's in the dungeons," she interrupted. "He's in the dungeons, and Alecto Carrow tortured him for who-knows-how-long because she started at twelve-thirty, and I wasn't there. Damn it, Anthony, _get up!" _

His eyes widened. Anthony didn't even bother changing completely; he simply threw on his robes over his pajamas, grabbed his wand, and followed Morag. The two of them raced down the stairs, retracing Morag's steps from before. By the time they reached the dungeons, she was panting, almost doubled over, but she didn't stop until she reached the room where Michael was, undoing her protective charms and yanking the door open.

Anthony darted inside, quickly kneeling beside Michael and murmuring spells, his wand moving slowly above Michael's body. Morag watched him for a moment, transfixed; he was always calm, but when he was healing, his face looked completely serene, as though he knew this was exactly what he was meant to do in life. He glanced up, meeting her gaze. "Morag," he said levelly, "Madam Pomfrey won't be awake yet. Go to the Hospital Wing and bring me a pain-killing potion, please. It'll be in her office."

Morag nodded, dashing off again. She had probably barely been up a half hour, but already she was completely exhausted. She didn't let herself stop, though; she raced to the Hospital Wing, looking at all the empty beds. It pained her to know that there were injured students walking around - those who had been under the Cruciatus Curse, and those who had been hurt in other ways during detentions, like the cuts that decorated Michael's body this second - but that none of them could come here, since detention-related injuries couldn't be treated.

She stepped inside Madam Pomfrey's office. She had never been in here - in fact, she doubted many students had. Anthony, maybe, had been in this room, since he wanted to be a Healer - he had, presumably, talked to Madam Pomfrey about it at some point. There were shelves of potions on two of the walls, and she swept her gaze over them, thankful that they were all neatly labeled. She grabbed the pain-killing potion and exited the office, once again returning to the dungeons for the third time that morning.

"Thanks," Anthony said as she returned, handing him the potion. "Can you close the door?" Morag promptly did so, closing it with a wave of her wand and leaning against the wall, panting. "Look," he said quietly, his voice low and urgent. "Michael can't return to classes - he was Cruciated for a really long time, in addition to his other injuries, and he'll need at least a day or two of rest. The Carrows won't give it to him. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to give him even more detention."

"I wouldn't be surprised, either," Morag said darkly.

"I was thinking of taking him to the Room of Requirement. He could stay in there with Neville and whoever else happens to be in there - he'll be safe there, at least, since the Carrows can't get in there."

"You should do it soon," Morag pointed out. "It's six o'clock - people are going to start getting up soon. And if they see you or me bringing Michael somewhere, then we'll probably get this same fate if the Carrows find out."

Anthony stuffed the pain-killing potion in the pocket of his robes. "Michael's stable enough to be moved now. I'll Disillusion him and myself, do a Featherlight Charm, and carry him up there. Can you go tell the others? They'll be worried when Michael doesn't return, if they haven't noticed already."

"Of course." Morag left first, glancing back at Anthony and Michael before making her way back up to Ravenclaw Tower. She didn't bother running this time - she wasn't even sure if she could, especially now that everything was all set with her friend. She reentered the tower to find Padma, Mandy, Su, Kevin, and Terry all in the common room, awake, with identical looks of concern on all their faces. "Hey," she said, sinking down onto the chair nearest them.

"I woke up," Padma said, "and you were gone. _You. _The person who was tempted to skip breakfast every day in fifth year so you could have extra time to sleep in, and you were gone at five-forty-five. And then I checked the boys' dormitory, and both Anthony and Michael were gone - and this is the morning after your little rescue mission, so I was worried. I woke everyone else up."

"Yes," Su said, casting a dark look over at Padma, "you did."

"Sorry for scaring you," Morag replied. She promptly explained the whole story, keeping her voice low since there were a few other people in the common room. "Anthony should be back soon," she finished. "He's not staying in the Room of Requirement."

"Are you sure Michael's all right?" Mandy sounded scared. "I mean, those injuries you say he has sounded pretty bad." Her voice was quiet as usual, and it shook a little as well. Morag understood her nervousness; after all, Mandy was his girlfriend. Hell, Morag had been terrified for Michael, and the two of them were only friends.

"Anthony's got him," Morag replied, "and Anthony's probably the best student Healer that we have. I trust him to heal Michael." She sighed. "It's just a pity that such a thing is actually needed."


	25. Chapter 25

According to Anthony, Michael had been safely transported to the Room of Requirement, and left in the care of the D.A. members that were there. Over the next couple of days, more and more of them found their way into the Room - Kevin and Su headed out after an incident in Muggle Studies, and soon after, Lavender and Parvati went, causing Padma to follow in order to be with her sister.

Morag didn't leave quite yet. It was tempting to, sure, but something made her stay out with Mandy, Terry, and Anthony. She was so close to finishing the year; it was the end of April, after all, and if she could only hang on for a little while longer, she would be able to officially leave Hogwarts, finishing her education. After all, if anything did happen, and the Death Eaters no longer reigned, she would be able to get a respectable job, since she had finished Hogwarts.

The others seemed to have the same idea. Anthony, especially, wanted to finish; St. Mungo's, after all, would need Healers even if the Death Eaters were still in charge. Terry was staying partially because Anthony was, it seemed, and Mandy had never gotten in enough trouble to actually need to hide out.

One Muggle Studies class near the end of April started off normally. Alecto Carrow was not particularly original in her classes; every single one had the sentence 'Muggles are filthy animals' somewhere in it, often more than once. Michael, Morag, Kevin, and Su had sometimes bet with each other how many times Carrow would use that sentence, occasionally trying to come up with the wildest number imaginable. Now, Morag was the only one left out of that foursome, and it still seemed odd to her to be sitting in that class without exchanging glances with her friends.

This particular class, Carrow had gotten hold of some Muggle device. Morag hated to think exactly where she had gotten it, although she knew the answer - some Death Eater raid, most likely. Carrow was talking about how idiotic it was, and how it would not work in Hogwarts because 'filthy Muggle things don't work in such a fine magical place'. She surveyed the classroom, and then said, "What about one of you coming up here and cursing this thing? Could give it back to some Muggles." She laughed, a cruel, hard sound that made Morag shiver. "I know a few lovely curses that I could teach you all."

"I'll do it!" Goyle sounded positively excited at the prospect, and Morag glared at his back as he made his way to the front. It was highly tempting to curse him; he was large enough to block Carrow's view of her, and it was likely that she would get away with it. Hell, even if she didn't, as long as the hex was minor enough, she'd probably only get a day or two's detention.

She was just about to do it, too. Her hand was in her pocket, drawing her wand out as slowly and quietly as she could manage, when she saw Mandy. The other girl was holding her wand under her desk, pointed at Goyle, and as Morag watched, Mandy jabbed her wand in Goyle's direction, doing a nonverbal spell that Morag didn't instantly recognize.

For a second, Morag worried it hadn't worked; the effects didn't appear instantaneously, and she held her breath, looking over at Mandy. The other girl seemed perfectly calm, though, and Morag turned her attention back to Goyle, who was now furiously scratching a place that should not have been furiously scratched in the middle of a classroom.

She couldn't help the snort that burst out of her, but it was disguised by the laughter of the other students. Even the Slytherins were amused, and some of the other students - Terry and Anthony, namely - were full-on cracking up, loud belly laughs escaping from their mouths. Goyle ran out of class, awkwardly trying to run and itch his crotch at the same time, which was not an easy task, for sure.

"Who did that?" Carrow demanded, and everyone fell silent. "Someone cursed him, I know it." Her beady eyes swept the classroom, as if she would discover a culprit, but nobody had their wands out - both Morag and Mandy had put theirs away in the commotion. "I'll give the whole lot o' you detention," she threatened, and Morag quickly glanced over at the Slytherins. If one of them had seen, surely they would say it now to save their own skins.

"You can't do that!" Pansy Parkinson looked livid. "It was one of them, I know it!" She waved her hand in the general direction of the non-Slytherins. "You know me, Professor, and you know all of us. A Slytherin would never do that to one of our own."

"You just find it hilarious that someone else did," Morag pointed out, causing Pansy to glare at her.

"I bet it was you, MacDougal!"

"You want to bet? Sure, I'll take you up on that - you'd lose, after all."

"You're going to lose at life," Pansy snapped.

"You're going to lose the dog show - there are pugs better-looking than you, after all." Morag couldn't resist the jibe, and it was appreciated by the other members of the class, who once again laughed. Even Daphne Greengrass chuckled, although she stopped when Pansy gave her a look.

"MacDougal!" barked Carrow. "You're disrupting my class with your silly argument!"

Morag had several retorts to that, the first one being 'Your silly class is disrupting my argument', but she decided against saying that. She shrugged. "Sorry, then. But I didn't start it."

"But I didn't start it, _Professor_," Carrow reminded her. Morag also had several comments to that, one of which would have been taking a page out of Harry Potter's book. There was a strong possibility she would have said something, if it hadn't been for Carrow then speaking. "Anyway, MacDougal, detention for two days. My class is more important than your silly fight with Parkinson."

"Shouldn't she get detention too?"

"Don't make it three days."

"Professor," Pansy whined, "do those two days include whatever punishment she'd get for hexing Greg?" She looked over at Morag, an evil smile on her face. "See, Millicent just told me that she saw MacDougal pull out her wand and hex him. And whose word are you going to believe - mine and Millicent's, or hers?"

"Bulstrode can't even see me!" Morag protested. It was true, to an extent; Millicent Bulstrode was sitting in the first row, Morag the back one. The Slytherin girl would have had to completely twist around to look at Morag, and it was highly doubtful that she had been paying attention to a Ravenclaw sitting in the back row.

"I can see you," Millicent said, twisting around to look at Morag.

"Well, that settles it, then," Carrow said. "MacDougal, four days' detention - two for disrupting my class, two for hexing Goyle."

Pansy leaned back in her chair, looking satisfied. Mandy looked terrified, but started to rise up off her seat. "Sit down," Morag whispered, quietly enough so that the people in the front wouldn't hear it. She didn't want to send Mandy to detention any more than she wanted it for herself; it felt wrong, somehow, to imagine letting the other girl stand up and take the fall for it. Sure, Mandy had been the one to actually hex him, but still; letting her confess to it would feel almost like actually pointing a finger at her and saying "She did it."

Mandy sat down, raising her eyebrows at Morag, who shrugged. Mandy was off the Carrows' radar, for the most part; she never spoke up in class or did anything bad, where Morag had already gotten herself in trouble more than once. What would be four more detentions? It wasn't as though they would do anything that she hadn't already encountered. Detentions sucked, yeah, but Morag knew that at the end, at least, she'd be fine.

After Muggle Studies, Morag stopped in the hallway outside of the classroom. "Stupid bag ripped," she said to the other three Ravenclaws. "Go on ahead." She held her wand to the rip, mending it, mentally cursing whoever had thought it would be a good idea to make students carry twenty-pound bags. As she was just about to continue to her next class, someone shoved into her from behind. She dropped the bag and whirled around, yanking her wand out and pointing it at the smirking face of Pansy Parkinson.

"Go ahead," Pansy said, pulling out her own wand. "You and me, right here. No one's around."

Morag felt a surge of fury. She had never hated Pansy as much as she did in this moment. "You got me detention," she snapped. "You handed me over to be tortured for four days in a row."

Pansy shrugged. "You insulted me. Don't mess with a Slytherin." She twirled her wand between her fingers.

"You're a foul bitch, Parkinson." Morag trembled slightly, still holding her wand pointed right in the middle of Pansy's face.

"Nice to know." The Slytherin girl didn't even seem extremely bothered by the name-calling, although her grip on her wand tightened noticeably.

It was at that point that the door to the classroom opened, and Alecto Carrow came out, staring at the two girls. "That's it," she snapped. "MacDougal, eight days detention." Morag grabbed her bag, her blood boiling, and started to walk out of the corridor. She would be late for her next class anyway. "Don't walk away when I'm talking!" Carrow yelled. "Ten days!"

Morag hefted her bag further up on her shoulder and started dashing through the halls, dodging around a pair of fifth years who were apparently also late, her footsteps pounding on the floor. Her breath was loud in her ears, and she couldn't tell if anybody was following her, but it didn't matter. In the course of this one class, everything had changed. She was not going to put up with Parkinson anymore; she was not going to have the Cruciatus Curse done on her for ten days in a row. This was the last straw.

She reached the seventh floor, and looking around to make sure nobody had followed her, she stepped up to a blank stretch of wall. She paced back in front of it, her thoughts repeating one sentence over and over.

_I need the place where the D.A. is staying._


	26. Chapter 26

Living in the Room of Requirement, Morag quickly found, was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. They were a couple dozen teenagers living in a confined - although large and greatly expanded - space, with no adult supervision, and that resulted in both good and bad things. Tempers tended to run high, especially among the more fiery members of the D.A. like Seamus and Su, and there was usually a loud argument between two or more D.A. members at least once per day.

There was one dark corner of the Room of Requirement, in between a couple of large bookshelves, and at any given time - especially at night, when the room was dark or dimly-lit - a couple could be spotted in there, making out. Romilda Vane had taken to amusing herself by coming up with names for the corner, each more lewd than the previous, and these names caught on.

Eventually, almost the full D.A. had entered the Room of Requirement, living in there and not attending classes anymore. There were times Morag regretted it - she had been so close, after all, to finishing Hogwarts - but there were other times that she was glad she had joined the rest of the D.A. there. They were right under the Carrows' noses, but Neville's skill with the Room had prevented any Carrows or Carrow-supporters from gaining access to it, and they were all safe.

Their food came through the Hog's Head. Aberforth, the grumpy old bartender, was on best terms with Neville. As a result Neville would go through the passageway and return several minutes later with his arms full of food, which he would then divide between them all. Aberforth's cooking sucked - Morag and Su made a point of rating the food on a scale of 1-10, 'with 1 being completely inedible and 10 being something that doesn't make you gag' - but it was food, and everyone appreciated it, despite their complaints about the quality.

D.A. meetings still continued. Although nobody dared to sneak back into the main body of the school for mission-like things, that didn't stop them from continuing to practice offensive and defensive spells. The bookshelves near the dark corner held many books, all of them full of useful magic that the D.A. practiced. Neville was still the leader, and he was the one who generally decided when it was time for them to actually practice spells, but other things had changed - other students read the books and taught spells to each other, instead of Neville being the only instructor.

Hammocks were strung all around the room, and there was a layer of cushions on the floor. It wasn't completely out of the ordinary for someone to fall out of their hammock in the middle of the night if they were thrashing around in their sleep. After the first few times, where Susan Bones had to heal a few minor injuries received from falling two meters without warning, there was a thick layer of soft cushions that were kept there all through the night and Vanished when everybody woke up.

"Ah," Morag said one morning - or was it early afternoon? - stretching in her hammock and turning to Su, who had the hammock right beside her. "It feels nice to wake up after seven or eight in the morning, you know."

Su snorted. "It's after eleven." She set the book she had been reading down, folding over the corner of a page to mark her place. "Neville just went to the Hog's Head, so you might want to get up, lazy arse, if you want food."

Morag tilted her head, pondering the statement. "Do I want Aberforth's food?" Su threw the book at her, but Morag caught it and tossed it back, rolling out of the hammock and carefully dropping to the floor. She landed in a slight crouch and straightened up. "Need some help getting down, my short friend?"

"You can shut up," Su said, conjuring a large cushion right underneath her hammock and dropping onto it. She was probably fully capable of landing the same way Morag had, but it was things like that which made Morag tease her. "Why'd you sleep so late, anyway?"

Morag raised her eyebrows. "Because I don't have classes. No obligation to get up early means that I'm not getting up early."

Su rolled her eyes, replacing the book in the bookcase. "You know what I mean. You must have been up late, or else you would have woken up, you know, before lunch."

"I stayed up late practicing spells," Morag said, gesturing to the farthest corner of the room. It held a few practice dummies, and was kept empty apart from them. It was made for people who wanted to practice outside of normal D.A. meetings, or - in the case of Morag - outside of normal being-awake hours. She had put up a couple soundproofing charms so that she didn't wake anybody, and stayed up until nearly two in the morning going to town on the dummies.

Su walked over to that corner, and Morag followed. The evidence of last night was still obvious on the dummies; the fabric was slashed in several places on all of them, another was thrown haphazardly against the wall, and two more appeared to be completely stuck together. She hadn't repaired them at the end of the night. Su whistled. "Morag, believe me when I say I wouldn't want to be against you in a duel."

"I wouldn't want to be against you either." Morag began nonverbally repairing the dummies, so that whoever wanted to use them next wouldn't have to do so. "Your aim is deadly." It wasn't a meaningless compliment she was paying Su, either - it was completely true. What Su may have lacked in power or speed, she made up for in aim. Morag was certain that if it came time for a real fight, Su would be up in some tower, or perhaps flying on a broom, and picking off Death Eaters from fifty feet above.

"Thanks." Su waved her wand, finishing the repair of the last dummy. "Still say you're better, though."

"You'd be underestimated," Morag pointed out. "And this isn't another slight against your size - Death Eaters are honestly going to think that a five-foot-nothing girl like you is going to be an easy kill, and boy, they're dead wrong."

"Yeah, well, you're going to be the kick-arse Auror when this is all over." Su glanced toward the portrait, where Neville had just returned.

"And you're going to be a professional Quidditch player, probably on the Harpies, and I'm going to come to as many of your games as I can. And I'll..." Morag hesitated, before plowing on with her next words. "I'm going to try to find Lisa, after this is all over. Reunite her with all of us, you know? But especially you."

Su blinked quickly, holding her head up high as if that would prevent Morag from seeing the wetness in her eyes. "You'd really do that?" she said, her voice quiet. "You'd really try to find her?"

"Absolutely," Morag said, putting as much conviction into her tone as she could manage. "All of us Ravenclaws have to stick together, and that means Lisa, too." She held out her hand. "I promise I'll try to find her."

Su shook her hand, pulling her into a tight embrace. Morag's head nearly rested on Su's, but for once she didn't make a joke about Su's height. "You're my best friend, Morag," Su said. "And dammit, whatever happens, we'll be together. All of us Ravenclaws, right?"

"Right," Morag said, hoping in her heart that it could end up being true.

* * *

"Hey, Morag?" Padma said idly, later on that day. The two girls were sitting in comfortable chairs, each with a book open on her lap. Neither girl was paying too much attention to the books, though. Both Morag and Padma kept looking up and starting conversations with the other. It had come up that Terry Boot had gotten in trouble for yelling about something in the Great Hall, but Padma wasn't too clear on the details, and the topic had been exhausted quickly.

Morag held a finger over her page so that she didn't lose her place. "Yeah?"

"Today's May first. The school year's almost over."

"It is, isn't it?" Morag felt another brief pang of regret for not being able to finish out her seventh year. She promptly reminded herself that staying under the Carrows' reign would have meant ten days' worth of detention, and just as quick as the regret had come, it left. "So once the school year's over...what are we all doing?"

Padma shrugged. "Don't think anyone knows. Especially the younger students - they're supposed to go back. I don't think the Carrows will care as much about us seventh-years; they'll probably mark us down as expelled or something." She set the book down, looking pensive. "If someone had told me in first year that I'd drop out of school to live with twenty-something other teenagers in a hidden room on the seventh floor, I would have told them that they're mad."

"If somebody had told me that we'd be eating the cooking of the Hog's Head's bartender, I would have told them that they're mad."

Padma snorted at that. "If somebody had told me that I would be a member of a rebel group formed to oppose three of the Hogwarts staff members, I would have told them that they're mad."

Morag glanced around the room, looking at the other D.A. members. Most were idly talking. A few were eating, and a few were reading. Michael was throwing spells at the practice dummies; as Morag watched, one of the dummies' heads crashed to the ground. "Wonder what would have happened if we did know about all of this," Morag said. "Would we have done anything differently?"

Padma shrugged. "I don't know what we could have done," she said, and the conversation fell to a close.

* * *

_A/N: I know that in some D.A.-during-DH fics, the D.A. kind of knows something is going to happen - there's a 'weird feeling', or something like that. I wanted to go a different route, and show how unexpected the BoH truly was, even though they've really been preparing for it all year. _


	27. Chapter 27

It was about eleven o'clock that night when Neville left for the Hog's Head again. It wasn't too much of a surprise; he had gone there at odd hours before, often to avoid the chances of running into anybody. All of the D.A. members, including Morag, were still awake - after all, teenagers in an unsupervised environment were definitely not going to go to sleep at nine or ten. Morag was in her hammock, idly reading, half-listening to Su chat with Michael about Quidditch, when the portrait reopened and Neville called, "Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"

Harry Potter stepped into the room.

He was promptly followed by Ron and Hermione - no surprise there - and barely a second after he entered, the room filled with yells. "HARRY!" shrieked Parvati, followed by Su's "It's Potter, it's POTTER!" that caused Morag to nearly topple off of her hammock. She jumped down, joining the crowd that was surrounding the trio of friends. The whole group of students in the room was surrounding Harry and his friends like they were famous celebrities - well, technically they were now, but they were being treated like it for once.

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Neville called again. The D.A. members backed up, giving Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville some space. Looking at them - really looking at them - now, it was obvious how much they had changed. Both Harry and Ron had longer hair than Morag had ever seen on either one; both needed a shave, and all three of them were thin and weary-looking. They fit right in with the D.A. members; although conditions had certainly improved since coming to the Room of Requirement, most of the D.A. members were still lean from exercise and not eating right, and all of them looked older than they should.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, gazing around the room in obvious wonder.

"Room of Requirement, of course!" Neville explained the whole situation with the room, and how the Carrows couldn't get in. Seamus helped, and then once they had finished, Ernie Macmillan piped up.

"Tell us what you've been up to, though," said Ernie. "There've been so many rumors, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch." He pointed at the wireless radio kept against one wall. Every night, somebody would search the airwaves to find Potterwatch or anything that gave real news; Morag usually didn't bother, considering it was difficult to seat that many people comfortably on the wireless. She counted on the fact that if something big happened, it would be the only topic of conversation for the next week. "You didn't break into Gringotts?"

"They did!" said Neville. "And the dragon's true, too!"

Morag exchanged a look with Padma, a look which equated to '_You didn't tell me about this.' _Padma, at least, had the decency to look embarrassed.

"What were you after?" said Seamus, a look of anticipation on his face.

Harry turned around suddenly, his body tense, swaying slightly, and Ron promptly grabbed hold of him, keeping him steady. "Are you all right, Harry? Want to sit down? I expect you're tired, aren't -" Neville looked worried, his gaze darting between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, then sweeping the D.A. members.

"No," Harry said shortly. "We need to get going."

"What are we going to do then, Harry?" Seamus still looked excited; it was obvious he was ready to fight back, to do something, to use what they'd been practicing since the beginning of the year. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" said Harry blankly. "Well, there's something we - Ron, Hermione, and I - have to do, and then we'll get out of here."

The D.A. members were completely silent now, exchanging looks with each other, looks of confusion and disappointment. "What do you mean, get out of here?" said Neville, voicing what the whole D.A. must have been thinking.

"We haven't come back to stay." Harry rubbed his scar, looking pained. Morag remembered the few times that he had collapsed from scar-related pain during classes; was he about to do that again? "There's something important we need to do."

"What is it?" called one of the younger students from the back of the crowd.

"I-I can't tell you."

Seamus looked as though he was about to explode; Su and Romilda weren't far behind him. Michael was furiously muttering - whether to himself or the people near him, Morag wasn't sure. "Why can't you tell us?" Neville asked, trying to keep his cool. He was doing a much better job of it than some of the D.A. members, but it was obvious he wasn't thrilled with Harry's response either. "It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"

"Well, yeah," Harry said. Anything further he could have responded with was cut off by Neville.

"Then we'll help you."

All of the students started nodding. Morag was dimly aware that they resembled a bunch of bobble-headed dolls, especially the people like Su, Seamus, and Romilda, who were nodding their heads so enthusiastically that Morag figured they'd all have headaches in about three seconds.

"You don't understand. We - we can't tell you. We've got to do it alone."

"Why?" Neville's layer of tolerance was wearing thin, it seemed.

"Because...Dumbledore left the three of us a job. And we weren't supposed to tell - I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us."

"We're his army," Neville said firmly. "Dumbledore's Army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own." His eyes scanned the crowd, lingering on Seamus - whose face was still bruised - and Michael, who had been tortured more severely than anybody else.

"It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate," Ron said. Morag narrowed her eyes at him; he didn't seem to notice. She wondered what the three of them had been doing all year, by themselves somewhere that nobody could find them. What could have been so important that they disappeared for months, not contacting anybody, not assuring anyone of their safety, just _leaving_?

"I never said it had." Neville took a deep breath. "I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore - loyal to you."

Harry started to say something, but he was interrupted by the tunnel door opening once again, and Luna Lovegood and Dean Thomas came through. Morag had never been close to either one of them, but it was a relief to see that they were both alive. "We got your message, Neville!" Luna said. Her airy voice had changed slightly, her gaze a little more sharp and focused. She had grown up too - they all had. "Hello you three, I thought you must be here!" Seamus rushed to hug Dean, ignoring Luna in the process. Su looked like she was about to make a comment - most likely an inappropriate one - about that, but Luna speaking further effectively shushed her. "Hi, everyone! Oh, it's great to be back!"

"Luna, what are you doing here?" Harry said.

"I sent for her." Neville held up his fake Galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up, I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows." A mental picture formed in Morag's mind, a beautiful mental picture of the whole D.A. against the three Death Eater teachers. _You'd lose, and you'd lose badly. _

"Of course that's what it means," Luna said. "Isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts."

"Listen," Harry said, sounding almost panicked. Morag felt a rising sense of panic grow in her as well - if the three of them weren't here to assist the D.A., what the hell were they here for? Were they seriously going to leave the D.A. in the Room of Requirement, go off and do their own thing, and...then what? "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then -"

"You're going to leave us in this mess?" Michael sounded outraged as he spoke, and for good reason. Morag felt the same outrage. Why had Harry, Ron, and Hermione even come back, then, if it wasn't to help the D.A. overthrow the Death Eaters?

"No!" Ron protested. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the long run. It's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who-"

"Then let us help!" Neville's veneer of calmness had finally cracked, and he sounded nearly as frustrated as Michael. "We want to be a part of it!" He looked as though he was going to go further along that line, but the door opened again, letting three of the Weasleys - the twins and Ginny - through, and Cho Chang followed soon after. Michael's eyes widened slightly, and his gaze darted from Mandy to Cho and back again, his facial expression becoming even more panicked when Cho sat next to him.

"So what's the plan, Harry?" one of the Weasley twins asked. He seemed to be missing an ear, strangely enough, and Morag squinted at the side of his head, trying to make sense of it.

"There isn't one," said Harry.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind," said the other Weasley twin, the one with both of his ears attached to his head.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry sounded almost as annoyed as Neville at this point. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane-"

"We're fighting, aren't we?" Dean held up his own fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though."

"You haven't got a wand?" Seamus looked incredulous. Su looked as though she was going to explode again, but from laughter this time. Morag shot her a look, a look that said '_This is not the time'. _Su either ignored the look or didn't see it, because she began making jokes about wands to Kevin. The D.A. members, new and old, had begun chatting again; Ron, Hermione, and Harry were talking quietly amongst themselves as the rest of the D.A. members mingled. Michael was sitting between Mandy and Cho, and trying to ignore that fact.

"Okay," Harry finally said to the whole D.A., talking loudly again. "There's something we need to find. Something - something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?" His gaze darted toward the group of Ravenclaws, Morag and her friends, who all exchanged glances. The only thing Morag could think of was -

"Well, there's her lost diadem," Luna Lovegood said. "I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but the lost diadem is lost, Luna. That's kind of the point."

"When was it lost?"

"Centuries ago, they say," said Cho Chang. "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?" She looked to the other Ravenclaws, but they shook her head. Morag was tempted to roll her eyes - like she would seriously look for a diadem in the middle of a war - but she refrained.

"Sorry, but what is a diadem?" Ron asked.

"It's a kind of crown," Terry explained. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."

"If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry." Cho was trying to not look at Michael as she spoke. "Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue." Harry muttered something to Ron and Hermione, something that Morag wasn't close enough to understand; meanwhile, Cho had gotten to her feet, but Ginny looked fierce.

"Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?" the youngest Weasley asked, looking almost as though she was about to engage Cho in a duel.

"Ooh, yes, I'd like to," Luna said, and Cho sat down, looking rather disgruntled. Neville led Harry and Luna to the door that exited to the Hogwarts building, as opposed to the Hog's Head; he talked to them briefly, and then they left. He returned, and the D.A. burst into conversation. Many of them were preparing for something, it was obvious. The few students who had changed out of their school robes into pajamas before Harry had arrived changed back into normal clothes. Many of the girls with long hair were tying it back into ponytails, and everyone was making sure that his or her wand was within reach. More people flooded into the room - some of whom Morag didn't even recognize.

Harry had said that they weren't here to fight, but it certainly seemed otherwise.


	28. Chapter 28

The Room of Requirement was full of people - D.A. members, people who had been members of the original D.A. but had left school, and some other people that Morag didn't recognize, and a few she did. "Professor Lupin," she said, surprised. Everyone was mingling around, talking; the Room of Requirement seemed much smaller now, with all of these people in addition to the D.A. members. Neville hadn't, apparently, thought to make the Room expand, although it wasn't a necessity, for a short while later, Harry reappeared.

"What first, Harry?" called one of the Weasley twins, the one with a missing ear. Morag had never been able to tell them apart while they were at Hogwarts, and although now it was easier, she didn't know which one had lost an ear. "What's going on?"

"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."

Several members of the D.A. - Seamus, Su, and Romilda, most noticeably - let out great cheers, and everyone, at once, rushed towards the door. It was a mad stampede out the door and through the corridors to the Great Hall. Morag was in the middle of it, her wand drawn with everyone else's. She felt wild, adrenaline already flowing through her body at the prospect of a fight. Every nerve was on edge, and although she was scared, that feeling was overwhelmed by the desire to battle with the Death Eaters, to show them that they couldn't keep this up. The students - as well as those random people who had returned - were going to fight, and they were going to win.

Morag and her friends found seats at the Ravenclaw table. For a moment, it felt almost normal, sitting in the Great Hall alongside these people, the D.A. members and the younger students and the Slytherins, but that atmosphere didn't last long. Some students - those who hadn't been in the Room of Requirement, and therefore had a little bit of warning - had traveling cloaks on, and some of the other students were still in their pajamas. All of the D.A. members were dressed in their school robes, and they were the ones who looked most prepared.

Everyone stared up at Professor McGonagall. She was standing on the platform where the teachers' table sat; all of the remaining teachers, minus the Carrows and Snape, stood there, as well as Firenze and Professor Lupin and several of the adults Morag didn't recognize. "The evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."

"And what if we want to stay and fight?" shouted Ernie, standing on the bench of the Hufflepuff table. All of the D.A. members applauded.

"If you are of age, you may stay," Professor McGonagall replied. Morag glanced around the Great Hall; apart from the Slytherins, every table had a few younger students shaking their heads, as if they were already planning how not to be evacuated. Glancing at the Gryffindor table, Morag read Romilda's lips - the younger girl had just said, "Oh, hell no" to Demelza Robins.

"What about our things?" called Mandy. "Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect possessions. The important thing is to get you out of here safely." Professor McGonagall looked tense, as though she was waiting for the question-and-answer session to be over.

"Where's Professor Snape?" Tracey Davis looked confused, but not very sad.

"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk." At Professor McGonagall's words, Morag let out a cheer; she was not alone in doing so. "We have already placed protection around the castle, but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects-" Her next words were cut off by a cold, high voice that Morag had never heard before, and was sure she never wanted to again. It seemed to come from all around, and she - along with many other students, she dimly noted - looked around wildly for the source of the voice.

"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood." Morag thought of Stephen, and her hands balled into fists underneath the table. "Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Everyone was completely silent. Morag's gaze shot towards Harry, who was standing behind the Gryffindor table, looking rather blank. "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" Pansy Parkinson cried. It took all of Morag's strength not to curse her right then and there. All of the Gryffindors stood up then, blocking Harry from her; the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws followed, and Morag and several other students pointed their wands in Pansy's direction.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson." McGonagall's voice was cold and clipped. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow." The Slytherins trooped out, and Morag's eyes found Astoria Greengrass at the end of the line. She left the Hall with the others, but through the open door, Morag could see her go in a different direction as the rest of them, and barely ten seconds later, Daphne dashed after her, both of them splitting apart from the rest of the group. "Ravenclaws, follow on!" Professor McGonagall called, and the tables began to empty out. Morag could see underage students splitting apart from the rest, even while she remained at her seat. It was chaotic enough where nobody was going to miss a couple - at least, not until it was too late.

Half of Gryffindor remained behind - apparently, the younger students hadn't thought of simply slipping away if they wanted to fight - and Professor McGonagall and a few of the other teachers had to step down and direct them to the crowd. When the underage students had been escorted out of the Hall by their prefects, a tall man with dark skin stepped up to the teachers' platform. "We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we have to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor - where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus, Arthur, and I -" He gestured towards Professor Lupin and a redheaded man. "Will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school."

"Sounds like a job for us," called the Weasley twin with both ears attached. The man nodded at him.

"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops."

The of-age D.A. surged forward, all calling requests. The Ravenclaws exchanged glances, and Morag couldn't help but wish they had more time. Time to wish each other luck, time to have one last goodbye, in case it turned out to be necessary. Morag tried to shake her head free of that thought, instead thinking about the underage students who had left, no doubt hiding somewhere until the battle began and it was too crazy for anybody to tell them to leave. What would they do? Presumably they'd just wander around and shoot spells at people; they weren't able to be part of any plan, since they weren't technically allowed to be there.

It didn't take as long as Morag had figured it would to divide everybody up. Su - thank Merlin - ended up with Professor Flitwickl's group, going up to Ravenclaw Tower. Su seemed relieved, and Morag was as well - she'd be safer up there, most likely, since Death Eaters probably wouldn't think to invade Ravenclaw Tower, and the chances of them shooting spells a hundred feet up as opposed to at their ground opponents was unlikely.

Morag, Kevin, and Leanne Moon of Hufflepuff were the last three; two of the groups had already left, and Neville, who was ordering students around just like a professor, looked harried. "You three," he said, "stay near the doors to the Entrance Hall outside. Help pick off some of the Death Eaters who are trying to enter Hogwarts. Remember, keep the wall to your back, you don't want to have to protect your back as well. And if there gets to be too many of them, get out of there. You don't want to be sitting ducks."

"All right," Kevin said, saluting Neville. Morag couldn't tell if he was being serious or not - knowing Kevin, it was probably the latter. Neville appeared to not notice - either that, or he ignored it - and the three students hurried off. Morag risked a glance at Leanne as they ran. Leanne had always been a quiet member of the D.A.; Morag had never seen her get in any trouble, and she had been one of the few students who hadn't needed to run away from the Carrows into the Room of Requirement.

"Er," Leanne said once they reached the doors, "are we supposed to just incapacitate them? Or -" She didn't look like she could say the next words, but it was obvious by context what she meant.

"Look," Morag said, "we're not going to win this battle if everyone just uses Stunners and Body-Binds. Use what you need to - what you can." She peeked at Kevin out of the corner of her eye; he was nodding.

"Morag's right. I don't think this is the time to hold back and just be defensive." He held his wand at the ready, and Morag and Leanne did the same. "Not long until midnight," he said, glancing at his watch. "You ready?"

Leanne laughed quietly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for this," she said. Kevin reached over and patted her arm.

"You'll do fine. We all will." He looked at Morag, and they quickly hugged. "Hey, you know what?" Kevin said to Morag, a slightly mischievous look on his face. "Bet I can take down more Death Eaters than you can."

Morag raised her eyebrows. "You're on, Entwhistle." She smirked at him, and he chuckled. The air was tense, despite their attempts to break the tension, even among three people alone; they knew that within minutes, they would be fighting for their lives, and for everything they believed in. It was a sobering thought, and Morag stood up tall, raising herself to her full height, her fingers clenched around her wand. This was what they had wanted all year. This is what they had spent preparing for all year.

This was it - this was war.

* * *

_Okay, so next chapter/s will be the actual Battle of Hogwarts - just had to get all of that pre-Battle stuff all over with, but now it's officially here. Note: It's either canon or widely-accepted fanon that Leanne is a Hufflepuff in Harry's year. 'Moon' comes from the original class list; there was a 'Moon' on there whose first name began with L, and considering the changes to that original class list that were made, I'm taking it as my head canon that 'Moon' is Leanne's last name._


	29. Chapter 29

The battle did not start gradually.

It started all at once, suddenly, a wave of Death Eaters rushing onto the Hogwarts grounds. The teams that were spread around the ground attacked them, but the Death Eaters were more concerned with getting inside Hogwarts. Morag noted that the Death Eaters would block the ground teams' spells, and return curses of their own, but none of them remained there for long. They ran in a large group towards the Entrance Hall, where Morag, Kevin, and Leanne stood by the doors. None of them dared to stand directly in front of the doors - that would make them too much of a target. Better to stand near the doors in shadow, where they had a fraction more safety.

Some of the Death Eaters fell from spells that appeared to come from nowhere; Morag knew that it was from the groups of fighters in the tall towers, and as they fell, Morag wondered which ones had come from Su. Su's aim was scarily good, after all, and the tower - where aim was much more important than quickness - was the perfect place for her.

She didn't have too much time to ponder that, however, because not long after the Death Eaters entered Hogwarts grounds, they were within Morag's sight. She started firing spells as fast as she could, dodging the occasional one that came her way. She was no longer even aware of Kevin and Leanne; she was focused completely on what she was doing, and everything else simply fell away. She was fighting to survive, and fighting for what she believed in. She had spent eight months in a veritable prison, where the teachers were the torturers, and she would be damned before she let anything like that happen again.

Morag had spent those same eight months learning Defense in secret and learning the Dark Arts from actual Death Eaters, and she was aware that she was a force alongside Kevin and Leanne - forces in their own right, as well. The three of them blocked many Death Eaters from entering Hogwarts, knocking them down with whatever spell was on the tip of their tongues at the time. A jet of green light issued from nearby her and hit a Death Eater, but Morag didn't think anything of it. It didn't matter whether it came from Kevin or Leanne, it didn't matter that that spell was not 'good'. They were at war, in the midst of a battle, and this wasn't the time to have moral dilemmas.

More and more Death Eaters came, though. They must have called out their full force - all the inner circle, as well as the low-level ones and the Snatchers, and probably even just Death Eater sympathizers who didn't have the mark. Dozens of them poured in, way too many for three to take down, and it was too much to handle. A curse hit Morag, slicing through her robes and creating a long cut across her upper chest that was similar to the ones left by the Carrows. Leanne's hair caught on fire, and it was Kevin's quick Aguamenti that put it out, but not before Leanne's hair had lost a few inches. Kevin himself was cradling his left hand, which hung limply by his side, his wrist broken.

"We can't stay here," Leanne called frantically, putting a Protego charm up that was large enough to protect them. "They'll kill us here - there's too many of them."

"The anti-Apparition wards are broken, I bet," Kevin said, pain evident in his voice. "Let's try." The three of them linked up - awkward considering Kevin's broken wrist - and Leanne Apparated them into a first floor corridor of Hogwarts. Morag awkwardly healed her own cut, managing to stop the bleeding but not the pain, and Leanne examined Kevin's broken wrist.

"Shit," the Hufflepuff girl said eloquently, "this is bad - I don't know much about Healing other than minor stuff. Wish Susan were here. She could fix this."

"I can fight, I guess," Kevin said. "My wand hand's fine, at least. Let's go."

They navigated through the corridors. Hogwarts was lit up now as though it was midday. _Thank Merlin, _Morag thought. They'd never be able to see the Death Eaters, with their dark robes, if the school was dark.

The battle had officially invaded the school; it quickly became chaotic. Screams and yells echoed through the corridors, the lights of spell jets flashing everywhere. It was a terrible scene; Morag saw a younger student whom she didn't even know, but who had apparently returned despite being underage. He was dead, his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling, his limbs twisted as though in the throes of the Cruciatus Curse. Morag felt a surge of pity for the boy, who couldn't have been more than thirteen, but she didn't have time to grieve for someone she didn't even know - at that moment, a Killing Curse came toward her, and she had to drop to the floor to avoid it.

A second later, there was a loud thump that she knew hadn't come from her. She whirled around just as Leanne Stunned the Death Eater, but that didn't even register in her mind. All that she could see in that moment was Kevin, on the floor, dead like that underage boy. Kevin's eyes were open as well; if his eyes had been shut, he would have looked asleep. There was nothing about him that suggested death - after all, the Killing Curse didn't leave marks.

It was impossible that Kevin was dead. He had been so full of life, after all. Kevin was the prankster, the Ravenclaw Weasley twin, Michael's best friend, Su's best friend, the one who always tried to give them light even in those dark, dark times. Morag dropped to her knees beside his body, tears welling up in her eyes, her form trembling as she sank down beside him and laid her head on his chest. There was no heartbeat, but she could still feel his warmth, and her tears dropped onto his robes. Her sobbing was loud, and she was dimly aware of Leanne above her, defending Morag from whatever Death Eater approached that particular corridor, but she didn't care. All that mattered was Kevin - and Kevin was _dead, _but he couldn't be. Morag couldn't form coherent thoughts - nothing mattered, because Kevin was dead.

She didn't know how long she stayed there, but eventually, Leanne hauled Morag to her feet. "Listen to me," the Hufflepuff said. "I know he's dead. And that sucks, but look - you're a fantastic fighter, and we need you to be out there kicking some Death Eater arse. Grieve for him later, Morag - just not now. There's no time." She deflected a Death Eater's curse, and Morag sent a Stunner at that Death Eater, wiping her eyes with her other hand. She couldn't look at Kevin's body - not now. She hurried away from Leanne, to a different corridor, and ran smack into Astoria Greengrass.

"What the hell are you doing?" Morag was aware that her voice was still shaky. "You better be fighting for us, or I'm going to -"

Astoria cut off her next words. "Of course I'm fighting against the Death Eaters, you dimwit. I'm the Secret Enemy - now, if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business." She ran past Morag, who stared after her for a second. Astoria Greengrass _was _the Secret Enemy? The Carrows had been _right_? That alone was impossible to fathom - who could ever imagine the Carrows being correct about something? - but there was no time for that either, and Morag continued on her way, away from Kevin's dead body, away from Leanne and the Stunned form of the Death Eater who had killed Kevin - because that alone was way too tempting.

Shaking that dark thought out of her head, she shot an _Expelliarmus _at a passing Death Eater, but he blocked it easily, lunging at her and pinning her against the wall, knocking her wand out of her hand. _Shit. Shit shit shit. _That was not supposed to happen - Death Eaters weren't supposed to do that. She struggled against him, but he had a good six inches on her, and was probably nearly twice her weight. She shot a longing glance at her wand; she was much less comfortable without it, and now, damn it, she was probably going to die.

She screamed, loud and long, in the hopes of somebody hearing her and coming to her - she felt ridiculous even thinking it - rescue. She brought her head forward, so that her forehead collided with his nose. He recoiled from her, hissing, "Crucio!" just as he let her go, and she fell to the floor, her body writhing, her cries of agony echoing through the corridor, which was empty apart from him and her. _This wasn't supposed to happen. _She had thought when she entered the Room of Requirement weeks ago that she was done with this curse for good, but no, stupid Death Eater had to come and give her another dose of the Cruciatus. It burned her nerves, sending waves of pain throughout her body that wouldn't stop, and then, suddenly, it ended.

Morag looked up at her saviour. Romilda Vane was standing there, the Death Eater facedown between them; Morag couldn't tell whether he was dead or alive, but either way, he wasn't moving. "You all right?" Romilda asked, a look of concern on her face.

Grabbing her wand, Morag pushed herself to her feet. Her body felt sore from the curse, the scar on her upper chest throbbing even worse - had she split it open again? - and her back aching from when she had hit the ground. The encounter with the Death Eater had cleared her mind, though; she still felt the pain from Kevin's death, but she was ready to fight again. "I think so. Thank Merlin - you saved me."

"You got a healthy set of lungs, that's for sure." She nodded at Morag. "Good luck - I gotta go find Demelza." Romilda darted off, leaping over the fallen form of the Death Eater. Morag hurried in the other direction, firing a spell at a Death Eater who was going in the same direction. He turned around as it singed his robe, and Morag caught a glimpse of his face. That was the Death Eater who had killed Kevin, right in front of her.

She let out a cry and surged forward, sending spell after spell at him. He was doing a surprisingly good job of blocking her assault of curses - many of which had not been learned from the D.A., but from reading books in the Restricted Section - and even returned a few of his own that Morag had to dodge. "Trying to avenge your little friend?" he said, smirking as though the very idea was hysterical.

Morag felt even more incensed than she had been already; she let out an inhuman wail of rage. A jet of green light issued from her wand - she hadn't even known, up until that point, whether she was capable of performing the Killing Curse - and it struck the Death Eater right in the gut. He toppled slowly, hitting the ground with a loud thump that reminded Morag darkly of Kevin, moments before, hitting the ground in the same way. For a moment she stared at the body. The Death Eater was dead because of her. She had killed a person.

She felt frozen to the ground, disbelief at what she had just done filling her. It had been one thing to watch Kevin or Leanne perform the spell; it had been one thing to know that there were different rules of war. It was another thing to actually kill someone, to watch them die by her hand. He had killed Kevin - and she had killed him. Did that make her just as bad as -

_There's no time. _Leanne's words from earlier came back to Morag. She was right - in the midst of battle, there was no time to grieve, and there wasn't any time to have a moral dilemma, either. She would deal with the repercussions of this later. Right now, she had to fight, and she would.


	30. Chapter 30

The Battle continued to rage on. People were falling all around Morag, the result of various spells - some as innocent as Stunners, others much worse. Morag saw two Death Eaters cornering a younger student she barely knew; they both had their wands held high, and probably would have done something terrible had Morag not Stunned one of them. The Death Eater fell barely an inch from the student he had been trying to attack; she ran away, and the other one turned on Morag.

_"Avada Kedavra!" _

The spell missed Morag; she had taken full advantage of the ability to Apparate, and had done so, landing on the other side of the Death Eater. He whirled around in confusion. She stood at the end of the corridor, an empty one stretching out by her side and forming an L shape with the Death Eater's hallway. "Reducto!" she shouted, and dodged around the corner of the empty corridor, not wanting to see the result of her spell. There was a loud noise, but she turned and ran, not wanting to look. Exploded Death Eater definitely would not be a pretty sight.

She was running so fast she barely noticed where she was going, and when a smaller body collided with hers, Morag whirled away, her wand held high.

"Relax," Su said, an amused look on her face. "It's only me."

"What the hell?" Morag gasped. "Shouldn't you be up in the tower?"

"There are barely any Death Eaters on the grounds," she explained. "I'm not going to sit up there and let everyone else fight." The amused look had faded, replaced with a fierce determination that Morag hadn't seen in a while. "Have you seen the other Ravenclaws?"

Morag's heartbeat quickened; she definitely didn't want to be the person to tell Su what had happened to Kevin, nor could she keep a secret from her best friend. She took a deep breath. "Kevin - Kevin died," she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "The others, I haven't seen."

"Oh, Merlin, no! _Shit!" _Su's eyes watered, and she delivered a hard kick to the wall. "No, it can't be - Morag, please, no." She was crying, and Morag couldn't believe her eyes. Su didn't cry. Ever. She wasn't emotionless by any means - Morag had witnessed Su's anger multiple times, as well as her wild joy - but as far as sorrow went, she was generally very stoic. Even Stephen's death had only caused Su to become harder, more determined in D.A. meetings. If she had cried about that, it hadn't been in front of Morag. Of course, Su had been much closer to Kevin than Stephen; Kevin and Su were like siblings, with their teasing and banter.

Morag pulled Su into an embrace, and for a moment the girls just stood there, in the midst of the Battle, but it couldn't last long, and Su pulled away. She grasped Morag's hand for a second, covering it with both of her own. "We're going to win this, okay? We're going to survive, and we're going to kick You-Know-... We're going to kick V-Voldemort's arse." Her voice trembled, and her eyes were still watery, but most of Su's sorrow had been replaced with the same determination as before.

"Definitely," Morag agreed, and Su darted off, the two girls reentering the thick of the battle.

It seemed like it went on forever. People were dying on both sides, and Morag couldn't help but wonder how this would even end. What would happen when nearly all of Voldemort's followers were gone? He would be too stubborn to surrender - but without any forces, how would he go on doing what he had been doing? Or, what if the Death Eaters triumphed? Morag knew many people who would die rather than surrender to the Death Eaters; the faces of Seamus, Su, and Romilda, the D.A.'s most passionate members, flashed in her mind.

Morag wasn't sure how long it went on before a high, cold voice echoed through the halls once more, and everybody froze, even the Death Eaters. "You have fought," said the voice of Voldemort, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately."

The Death Eaters then did something Morag found very surprising. Each one - the ones that she could see nearby, at any rate - Disapparated away, leaving the students and others who had been fighting behind. "You have one hour," continued Voldemort. "Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for your rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

There was a brief silence, as though nobody could comprehend what had just been said. Morag stood there for a moment, mulling over Voldemort's words. He wanted to kill Harry Potter directly. It made perfect sense - just as Voldemort was in command over the Death Eaters and supporters, the symbol of all they stood for, Harry was the symbol of everyone fighting against him. He may not have been the leader and commander the way Voldemort was, but he was the symbol of everything the anti-Voldemort forces stood for. If Harry Potter was killed, the resistance would crumble.

Morag's thoughts whirled. Harry was a Gryffindor.

Gryffindors had the annoying habit of being utterly noble and sacrificial.

_Shit. _

Of course, there was nothing Morag could do about her realization that, at some point, Harry would give himself up. She knew it with all her heart; there was no way Harry Potter would allow everyone else to die here. He would go into the forest and sacrifice himself in the hope of saving everyone else - but it wouldn't work. If Harry was gone, then everyone who resisted Voldemort would die anyway. Either way, everyone would die - there was no way Harry could best Voldemort in a duel, after all. She had no idea how he had beat the most powerful Dark wizard of all time before, but in a real duel, there was no hope. Harry was seventeen - how could a teenager beat Voldemort?

Morag sank against the wall. They were all going to die. _She _was going to die. Why had she done this to herself? Why had she stayed and fought in the battle? Was she honestly so overconfident as to believe she - a mere eighteen-year-old - could escape this alive? Her parents were right - staying neutral was the smart thing to do. Nobody hated the neutral ones; nobody wanted to kill the neutral ones for their beliefs. Morag's parents had made it through both wars against Voldemort with absolutely nothing negative to show for it, because they were neutral.

"You hurt?" a voice asked. She glanced up to see Daphne Greengrass standing there, looking extremely disheveled but not seriously injured. "MacDougal? What are you doing there?"

Morag pushed herself to her feet. "I'm not hurt. Why?"

"Everyone's going to the Great Hall." Daphne brushed her hair back from her face. "All the injured are being treated, and Madam Pomfrey and those student Healers of yours need some help. Come on."

Morag and Daphne walked in silence; Daphne didn't seem to know what to say any more than Morag did. What did you say, after all, when you knew you were going to die in an hour unless you were an absolute coward who tried to run away from Hogwarts? There was nothing Morag could think of to suit the situation, and the two girls found their way back to the Great Hall without speaking again.

People were bustling around. All of the dead were put in one area; Morag recognized many, although not all, of them. The seriously injured were in another area, being tended to by either Madam Pomfrey, Anthony, Fay, or Susan. Yet another area housed those who were injured severely enough to need attention, but not severely enough to die without it; everyone else milled around, talking to loved ones and friends or bustling supplies to the four Healers. Morag saw the other Ravenclaws, and hurried over to them. Padma, Su, Michael, Anthony, and Terry... "Where's Mandy?" Morag said suddenly.

The others exchanged a glance. "Dunno," Terry said finally. Michael shot him a glare, and Morag was reminded suddenly of Michael and Mandy's relationship. For once, Michael had found somebody that he truly seemed to fancy, and enjoy, instead of just finding that person attractive like Ginny or Cho.

Padma spoke, her voice gentle. "Morag, Kev-"

"I know," Morag said, wincing at the harshness of her tone. "Sorry. I was there."

Padma laid her hand on Morag's as a source of comfort, and the six Ravenclaws lapsed into silence. It was the same situation: what was there to say, faced with impending death in an hour?

There had once been ten of them, and Morag's heart ached for those days, back when everything was simple. She missed Stephen and Kevin, the two murdered Ravenclaws; she missed Lisa and Mandy, the missing ones. She wished that she could go back to first year, relive her Hogwarts years again and savor all of those moments with her friends. There had been ten; then there was eight, then seven, then six, and soon, Morag knew, it would be zero.

The door opened, and Morag and the others, sitting near it as they were, looked up. Alicia Spinnet came inside, levitating the body of a girl. Alicia saw the six of them looking. "She told me her name is Mandy," the Gryffindor girl said, nodding at them before bringing Mandy - Mandy's body - to the other fallen ones.

Su swore again, and Morag felt tears welling up, this time for Mandy. After all of those years, Mandy had finally managed, to some extent, to come out of her shell, to find the bloke she loved, and then she was killed senselessly by some stupid Death Eater. It didn't seem fair at all - couldn't Mandy and Kevin at least have had this one last hour with them? They were all going to die anyway - couldn't they all die together?

Out of all of them, Michael looked the most distressed; his head was in his hands, his body shaking slightly. Both Anthony and Terry were trying to comfort him, but it didn't seem to be working much, and Morag felt an even sharper pang in her heart. For once, Michael, the boy who went through girls constantly, had cared about his girlfriend - and then that girlfriend was ripped away. Morag leaned into Padma, and for a little while they just held each other, because really, what else was there that they could have done?


	31. Chapter 31

The time in the Great Hall was spent mostly in silence. Most of the other people inside were also quiet; a few were crying over lost loved ones, and those acting as Healers barked out orders to their helpers, but after the initial few minutes, most of the wizards and witches had quieted down. As a result, it was startling when Voldemort's voice boomed out for the third time that night. "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."

"That can't be," Su said, her voice low.

"The coward!" Michael spat, but there was a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"The battle is won," continued Voldemort. "You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There will be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family."

"Oh, Merlin," Morag said, her thoughts flashing to Katrina, and then her parents. That possibility was even worse. It was one thing for the Death Eaters - or Voldemort himself, wouldn't that be thrilling - to kill her for refusing to cooperate. It was another thing to drag Morag's parents and Katrina - all innocent - into the situation as well.

"Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we will build together."

"Like hell," Romilda Vane said from her position a few feet away from the Ravenclaws.

"Come on," Padma said, standing up and offering her hand to Michael, who still looked shaky. "We might as well go outside - look, everyone else is." It was true; all around them, students and teachers were leaving. Even the diehard D.A. members were headed out; even those who had been injured. It was only those who were dead or near-dead who remained in the hall. The Ravenclaws stayed together in their little clump, and Morag felt as though she didn't ever want to leave them. They had already lost Mandy, Kevin, and Stephen, and Lisa was missing; Morag wanted to stay with the remaining friends she had until they all died.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters were standing in a line in front of the doors; beside them stood Hagrid, a body in his arms - a body with messy black hair and glasses.

A body that was unmistakably Harry Potter's.

"NO!" screamed Professor McGonagall. The shouts of Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley followed hers, and that only opened up the possibilities for the whole group to start yelling. Some people - Parvati, Seamus, Dean, Cho Chang - were screaming for Harry, but a few others were taking the opportunity to shout abuse at the Death Eaters.

"Alecto Carrow is screwing her brother!" yelled Su.

"You all can't tell your heads from your arses," Morag called.

"Your heads _look _like arses!" Su added.

They probably could have kept on going for hours. One of the D.A.'s favorite pastimes when they had been hiding in the Room was insulting Death Eaters - namely the Carrows and Snape, but sometimes Death Eaters in general - and all of them had quite a few good ones. Even Padma went so far as to call them 'a bunch of bastards', which - considering Padma's disapproval of most swearing, was pretty impressive to Morag.

"Silence!" Voldemort yelled, and there was a flash of light from his wand. Morag tried to call out, but she was unable to make a sound; from other people's reactions, it was obvious that they, too, had been affected by his spell. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!" The body of Harry Potter was set down at Voldemort's feet, and Hagrid let out a great sob, followed by Ginny. "You see?" Voldemort said. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"He beat you!" Ron Weasley yelled, breaking the charm. The D.A. returned to their verbal abuse of the Death Eaters; Romilda Vane went so far as to shout 'Voldemort, you're an arsehole!', but that must have been lost in the screams, as he didn't respond to her in particular.

There was a bang, and the D.A. found themselves unable to speak once more. "He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," Voldemort said, "killed while trying to save himself-" He was cut off as Neville detached himself from the crowd and ran at Voldemort, who Disarmed him easily before flinging him backwards to the ground. "And who is this?" he continued. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight while the battle is lost?"

Apparently screaming crude abuse didn't count as fighting to Voldemort, Morag thought, or else Romilda Vane - and the rest of the D.A. - would be dead.

Bellatrix Lestrange laughed, and Morag snapped back to attention. "It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I remember." Voldemort watched as Neville got to his feet. "But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

Neville's hands curled into fists. Morag entertained a quick image in her mind of Neville delivering a solid punch to Voldemort's face. "So what if I am?"

"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

"I'll join you when hell freezes over," Neville spat. "Dumbledore's Army!"

Morag - and the rest of the D.A. - let out a loud cheer, the Silencing Charm broken once again. It was strange, she mused, how easily it seemed to be broken, considering how powerful Voldemort was supposed to be. Perhaps it was merely difficult to cast a Silencing Charm that affected that many people. "Very well," Voldemort continued. His voice was low and silky, dangerously so. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head be it." He pointed his wand at Hogwarts, and an object flew out of one of the windows; Morag recognized it to be the Sorting Hat when it reached his hand. "There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

He flicked his wand at Neville, who became rigid and still, the obvious victim of a Body-Bind Curse. Morag watched in puzzlement, unsure of what was going to happen but knowing that it was going to be bad. He forced the Sorting Hat onto Neville's head. Morag flashed back for a moment, to the first day of first year when they had all been Sorted. Neville had been right before Morag, and he had walked halfway to the Gryffindor table with the Sorting Hat still on his head; Professor McGonagall had had to call him back to retrieve the hat, and the chubby little pink-cheeked boy had stumbled as he returned before hurrying, embarrassed, to Gryffindor.

There was such a difference, now, looking back. For almost all of their time at Hogwarts, Morag had thought of Neville Longbottom as not much of anything - nice enough, sure, but certainly not talented or special. Looking at him now, he stood there facing Voldemort, willing to take death over submission, willing to lead a group of students against the Carrows, willing to be somebody. He was surely going to die now, what could have been a great life cut short - but then, weren't they all going to die that night?

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me." Voldemort flicked his wand, and the Sorting Hat on Neville's head burst into flames.

Morag let out a scream of shock; she knew she wasn't the only one. At the same time, people came swarming into the Hogwarts grounds, and centaurs came along with them, as well as a giant that seemed to bear a slight resemblance to Hagrid; the Death Eaters broke ranks as arrows fell among them from the centaurs, and the Dark side's giants rushed at the new one, yelling.

Everything was happening at once. Morag's eyes shot to Neville as he broke free of the Body-Bind, shoving the hat off his head, pulling a sword from it - a sword! - and lunging for Voldemort's snake. Neville swung the sword perfectly, cutting off the snake's head. The head was thrown upward by the impact; Voldemort screamed silently, and the snake's body fell to the ground. Harry Potter was gone. Hagrid screamed, "Harry! Harry - where's Harry?" but nobody was able to answer, because everything had become complete chaos.

Everyone was being forced back into Hogwarts. Morag tried to stay with her group, but Padma, Michael, and Terry became separated as a centaur nearly ran over them; Su, Morag, and Anthony remained together as they darted inside. More and more people filed in, led by Professor Slughorn and another Weasley. Morag spotted the parents of many Hogwarts students among them, along with Madam Rosmerta, Aberforth, and several other Hogsmeade residents and shopkeepers. Anthony's mother spotted her son and shot him a look that equated to 'What the hell are you doing here?' and 'I love you' combined into one, and then house-elves also came into the Entrance Hall, waving knives and cleavers from the kitchen, led by a particularly old and ugly-looking one who was wearing a gold locket.

A Death Eater came towards Su, Anthony, and Morag, and shot a spell in their direction, presumably not caring who he hit. Morag, dodging a Killing Curse that had sailed from another dueling pair, got right in the path of it by accident; it flung her twenty feet backwards, and she struck the floor, the breath knocked out of her. She panted, getting back up, just as Anthony got taken down by a Stunner. The battle was so much more condensed now, everyone in either the Entrance Hall or the Great Hall, and as a result the danger had increased as well. Su was facing the Death Eater, who grinned down at her; he had well over a head of height on her. Morag started to move towards them, still winded, dodging other duelers and spells, and when she was halfway there, a flash of green light came from the Death Eater's wand, striking Su.

With a terrible, aching finality, Su Li fell to the ground, and Morag screamed.

She was dimly aware that a few duelers nearby had paused to look at her, wondering what the hell that was all about, but she didn't give a damn. Her eyes were focused on the Death Eater now, tunnel vision an understatement for the degree of her concentration. His eyes widened at the look on her face, and he glanced around, trying to engage Romilda Vane in combat, instead, but that was no good; she spun out of the way easily, and nodded at Morag as if to say 'He's all yours'.

As if Morag needed someone to tell her that.

She was yelling derogatory things at him almost as much as she was screaming curses; he tried to retaliate as she forced him backwards, but none of his spells were touching her. She was completely focusing on adrenaline and anger and pure grief now, and she felt powerful as she twisted out of the way, cursing him. His face was unrecognizable - and she was sure the rest of him was, too - by the time the emerald light poured out of her wand and he thudded to the floor, and Morag let out a sob.

Romilda was nearby, and she held Morag for a moment, stroking her hair, rubbing her back. There was nothing Romilda could say - nothing anyone could say - to make Morag feel better. That was her best friend, dead on the ground, and it tore at her heart in a way that Stephen's death hadn't, Mandy's death hadn't, and even Kevin's death hadn't. They had been her close friends, yes, but it had been Su that Morag thought of as practically a sister, Su who had invited Morag over to stay the summer that Katrina was being particularly difficult, Su who -

Romilda didn't try to reassure her, and for that Morag was grateful. The younger girl only held her, held her amidst the death and the curses flying all around them, and Morag clutched at Romilda, wanting something - someone - tangible to hold, because Su Li was gone, Su Li was dead, and it was impossible. Su was supposed to become a Quidditch player, and she was supposed to get together with Lisa when Lisa returned from wherever she was, and she was supposed to _survive. _ Hadn't they promised each other that, at least?

The battle raged on, but Morag didn't have the heart to fight anymore.

* * *

_Um, yeah, the Battle of Hogwarts is obnoxiously long, I realized. But it's going to be over in the next chapter, because that's when Harry and Voldemort have their long talk in the middle of the Great Hall and all that. And yes, I planned for Su to die since the beginning - don't hate me. _


	32. Chapter 32

They might have just stayed there forever, Romilda holding Morag, Morag clutching at her, but everybody was headed into the Great Hall, and they, too, were swept up by the crowd. Voldemort was battling against Professors McGonagall and Slughorn, as well as the dark-skinned man that Morag had seen in the Room of Requirement only a few hours before. Bellatrix Lestrange was also dueling three - Hermione Granger, Luna, and Ginny - and in both matches, nobody, it seemed, could triumph. Lestrange shot a Killing Curse at Ginny; it missed her by an inch, and then a plump redhead had shoved the three girls out of the way to take on Bellatrix.

The woman - who could only be Mrs. Weasley - was surprisingly equal to the top Death Eater, and the two of them dueled fiercely. Almost everybody had stopped what they were doing to watch the two duels; Morag wiped the tears away from her face, trying to focus on something other than Su's death, trying to escape the pain for a little while. Hannah and Seamus both hurried forward, trying to help Mrs. Weasley, but she gestured them away. "No! Get back! Get back! She is mine!"

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" Bellatrix Lestrange's voice was cruel, her wild eyes betraying insanity. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"

"You will never touch our children again!" screamed Mrs. Weasley, and a jet of light shot out of her wand and struck the Death Eater, whose head was thrown back in exhilarated laughter. Bellatrix Lestrange toppled so slowly it was almost comical; the crowd let out a roar, and Voldemort screamed, a noise that didn't sound human. McGonagall, Slughorn, and the man were all thrown backwards, away from him and into the crowd, as he turned on Mrs. Weasley, who had the same look of scared determination Morag had seen many times that night.

"Protego!" shouted someone; a Shield Charm burst into being in the middle of the Great Hall, between Mrs. Weasley and Voldemort, and Harry Potter stepped out from under the Invisibility Cloak.

The Hall went completely silent. Nobody dared to talk; there was a sense of finality in the room. This was the end, Morag knew; this would truly determine the fate of the Wizarding world. If Harry Potter died, Voldemort would be able to make good on his threats. He would be able to rule the world, because without Harry Potter, the resistance would crumble. He had to survive - he had escaped death often enough, so couldn't he do it again? The two of them began to circle one another, and Harry spoke, his voice carrying across the silent room. "I don't want anyone else to try to help. It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

"Potter doesn't mean that." Voldemort's eyes were wide. "That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?" His eyes quickly scanned the crowd behind Harry; Ginny Weasley folded her arms in a defiant stance at his gaze.

"Nobody. There are no more Horcruxes," Harry said, and Morag wrinkled her forehead in confusion. She had never heard the word before in her life, and her mind raced, trying to figure out what a Horcrux might be. "It's just you and me," continued Harry. "Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good."

"One of us?" Voldemort taunted. "You think it will be you, do you? The boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me? Accident, when I decided to fight in the graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?" Harry sounded stronger and more confident than Morag had ever seen him before. He was lean, badly in need of a haircut and a shave, and looked like he hadn't bathed in a while, but in this moment, he commanded more respect than he had in all his years at Hogwarts.

"Accidents!" Voldemort yelled. He seemed to be growing frustrated. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight. You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people-" _Gryffindors, _Morag thought.

"But you did not!"

"I meant to," Harry continued, barely acknowledging Voldemort's interruption. "I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"

Morag silently put together the puzzle pieces. When Harry had gone to the Forbidden Forest as a sacrifice, then, he had protected all of those fighting on his side, all of those who were willing to fight - and die - for him. That was old, old magic, something that was never taught in Hogwarts, something that was only hinted at in old stories and tales. It made a certain degree of sense, though; hadn't people always said that there was more at play in Harry Potter's life, and Voldemort's life, than the public actually knew? "You dare-" Voldemort shrieked, and Morag's attention was drawn back to the present.

"Yes, I dare. I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't? Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?" He was practically taunting Voldemort now; Morag kept expecting the Killing Curse or some other Dark magic to fly out of Voldemort's wand and strike down Harry Potter. She was also practically expecting Romilda or Seamus to shout something along the lines of 'You go, Harry', but neither happened. _Yet. _

"Is it love again?" Voldemort jeered. "Dumbledore's favorite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, although love did not stop him from falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me from stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter - and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?"

"Just one thing," Harry replied. They were still circling one another, and Morag had the juvenile thought that certainly, one of them was going to get dizzy some time now. The two of them continued, though, staying an equal distance apart, not daring to move any closer.

"If it is not love that will save you this time, you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"

"I believe both." Harry's answer made Voldemort laugh, a cold, humorless, high sound that echoed around the still-quiet Great Hall. The sound made Morag shudder; next to her, she felt Romilda do the same.

"You think you know more magic than I do? Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic than Dumbledore himself has never dreamed of?"

"Oh, he dreamed of it, but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."

Voldemort's next words were again screamed; Harry was certainly aggravating him. "You mean he was weak! Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"

Harry was calm, a complete opposite to Voldemort. "No, he was cleverer than you. A better wizard, a better man."

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!" Voldemort's wand hand twitched, but he didn't strike.

"You thought you did. But you were wrong."

Now the crowd gasped; murmurings broke out. "I saw his body!" Romilda protested, and Morag nodded along with her, her brow furrowing as she watched Harry and Voldemort circle. How could that be? Dumbledore was dead - he had fallen from the Astronomy Tower. Several students had seen his body on the lawn; several students had seen the Dark Mark above Hogwarts, and the whole student population, as well as other assorted wizards and witches from all around, had gone to the funeral and seen Dumbledore's tomb. It wasn't possible - but if it was...

"Dumbledore is dead! His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of the castle! I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"

"Yes, Dumbledore's dead," said Harry, still the epitome of calmness, and the crowd whispered to one another. "But you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."

"What childish dream is this?"

"Severus Snape wasn't yours. Snape was Dumbledore's," said Harry, and all of the whispering stopped. The possibility whirled in Morag's brain, and she replayed the past year in her head. If Snape was truly Dumbledore's man, how come he allowed the Carrows to roam free at the castle? All he did to stop them was ensure that no students died that year as a result of them, but the Cruciatus Curse was just as unforgivable as a Killing Curse. How could he be on their side all along, but allow them to be tortured? "Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother," Harry continued. "And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle? Snape's Patronus was a doe, the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized - he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

Voldemort sneered. "He desired her, that was all. But when she was gone, he agreed that there were other woman, and of purer blood, worthier of him-"

"Of course he told you that," said Harry, with the air of someone explaining something to a very young child. "But he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"

"It matters not! It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great love!"

The possibility of Snape loving somebody was a foreign one to Morag. She exchanged a glance with Romilda, who seemed to be thinking the same exact thing. It was also interesting, Morag thought, because Snape despised Harry Potter, despised him so much that the whole school knew about the mutual hatred between them. Yet he had been in love with Harry's mother when she was alive - could that be the reason that he hated Harry? Because Harry's mother had died, and Harry had not?

"Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter," Voldemort continued, "and in ways that you do not understand. Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me!"

"The _what?_" Morag muttered under her breath. The Tale of the Three Brothers was in the old Beedle the Bard book that she had eagerly read as a child. She had loved those stories; she had read them to Katrina when she was younger. But that was all they were - stories. Weren't they?

"He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand," Voldemort said. "But I got there ahead of you, little boy - I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"

Snape was dead. The news didn't fill Morag with as much happiness as it would have twelve hours previously. If he was really on their side, really a spy, then...then he would be mourned with the Weasley twin and Colin Creevey and Su and all of the others who had died fighting Voldemort. He was, technically, a hero - but trying to reconcile her image of Snape with that of a hero was difficult, considering what she had seen and gone through for the past several months.

"Yeah, it did," Harry said, "you're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done. Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle."

"What is this?" Voldemort looked shocked, and he wasn't the only one.

Morag could see other people in the crowd looking surprised; Romilda said, "You've got to be kidding me," under her breath, and the sentiment seemed to be repeated all around the Great Hall.

"It's your one last chance. It's all you've got left - I've seen what you'll be otherwise. Be a man. Try. Try for some remorse."

"You dare-" Voldemort said again.

"Yes, I dare," Harry said firmly, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle. That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."

Morag felt even more confused now, and she was glad that everybody else - including Voldemort himself - seemed equally baffled. "He killed-" Voldemort started, but Harry interrupted him.

"Aren't you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand's last true master. If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him."

"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" Voldemort sounded excited, but his voice held an undercurrent of malice. "I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against its last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"

"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough. Holding it, using it, doesn't really make it yours."

Morag flashed back to her first year at Hogwarts. She and Padma had been in the common room, practicing spells, and they decided to swap wands and try the same spell, just to see if they could do it as well as they had been before. Padma's wand had felt strange and unfamiliar in her hand, even though it was probably only half an inch shorter, and she hadn't had the same success with the spell as she had had previously. It had worked, but it hadn't worked as well as her own - and that, she supposed, was what Harry meant.

"Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard...the Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him his allegiance." Harry took a deep breath; both he and Voldemort seemed to be gearing up for a duel even more now. "The true master of the wand is Draco Malfoy."

"Draco bloody Malfoy?" Morag whispered, just as Romilda let out a quiet expletive.

"But what does it matter?" Voldemort said. His voice was soft now, but in the Great Hall, nobody else was speaking. Morag could hear him clearly from where she stood, and - from the way everyone was fixated on his words - it seemed like everyone else could, too. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone, and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy..."

"But you're too late. You've missed your chance. I got there first - I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him." He twitched the wand in his hand, as though he wanted the whole crowd to see it. Morag's eyes were on it, so focused that she heard, but didn't comprehend, that Harry had started to speak again. So, if Draco Malfoy was the true master of the Elder Wand, and Harry had overpowered him, then that meant... "I am the true master of the Elder Wand," Harry Potter said, just as the sun rose on the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then the two people moved at once.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The two spell jets met in the center of the Great Hall; golden flames burst from the center. The Elder Wand flew out of Voldemort's hand, and Harry caught it with the quiet grace of a Seeker. Voldemort fell backward, his arms splayed, his eyes rolling upwards, and he hit the ground with a thump. Voldemort was dead. Dumbledore's Army, Harry Potter, and everyone else who was on their side had won - the war was over.

Everyone pressed to Harry, and Morag let herself get swept up with the crowd. A sense of relief filled her, so strong that it swallowed up a little of her grief. Yes, people had died - and some of those people were friends that Morag would miss terribly, people that she would grieve for months and years. And it was terrible, and horrible, that they had died, because they were little more than children, only teenagers who had been dragged into their parents' war. But despite all of that, there would be peace.

Those who had died would be able to have proper funerals. Those who had done terrible things - all of the Death Eaters, and their sympathizers - would go to trial, and most likely get life in Azkaban. And those who had survived would be able to try to move on, find love and life and happiness, because there wasn't anybody left to oppress them.

The sun shined over the Great Hall, letting them all know that the dark times were over.

* * *

_This is now complete! Sorry for the length of the chapter, by the way - I had to get the Harry&Voldemort speech in there, and I didn't realize how long it actually was. But anyway, this is now done, and I want to thank everybody who's reviewed this - I really hope you enjoyed my exploration of Deathly Hallows at Hogwarts, and what the Ravenclaws in Harry's year are like, since they are vastly underrepresented characters. And I'm not usually one for self-plugging, but I would just like to say that my story, 'Life in Blue and Bronze', is a oneshot collection featuring these Ravenclaws, and is compliant with this story. _

_Love to all, and I hope that you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it._


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